reducing disparities in chronic pain among an underrepresented population

Conditions: Chronic Pain

Summary: health inequalities in chronic pain exists in the us, with a greater burden of chronic pain and higher rate of misdiagnosis and undertreatment reported in minoritized groups compared to non-hispanic whites. asian americans (aa) are the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the us, yet despite the rapid growth in their numbers, aa remain under-represented in pain disparity research. cultural norms of asians may discourage reporting their pain to avoid burdening others or being seen as weak. rather than seeking medical assistance, asians have been reported to tend to accept the pain as natural or to suffer to maintain their independence. very few evidence-based programs are available that can be implemented for this linguistically/socially isolated population in the us. this proposed study aims to fill critical knowledge gaps in pain disparity research by providing evidence of feasibility and acceptability of a culturally-tailored psychosocial pain education intervention for an underrepresented population using the ka community as an exemplar.

chronic pain is a major population health issue affecting more than 100 million americans and disparities in chronic pain have been widely documented, indicating minoritized racial and ethnic groups experience a higher burden of chronic pain and are at high risk for undertreatment of that pain. asian americans remain underrepresented in pain research; evidence regarding chronic pain experiences of asian americans is limited, as are resources and evidence-based programs for this group. this exploratory, developmental study will provide evidence of feasibility and acceptability of a culturally tailored psychosocial education intervention to reduce pain catastrophizing and improve pain outcomes for underrepresented and underserved minority populations.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. female and male 2. ≥ 18 years old 3. self-reported foreign born korean americans 4. self-reported pain most days of the month for at least 3 months 5. pain must be non-malignant, but may have more than one pain source exclusion criteria: 1. having malignant pain (e.g., cancer or hiv-related) 2. demonstrating significant cognitive impairment (based on results of a cognitive screener-short portable mental status questionnaire) 3. having current, uncontrolled serious psychological disturbance (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) or active substance abuse based on self-report 4. having low literacy skills in korean or english (unable to understand the written consent and to sign) 5. undergoing other psychosocial treatment for pain * if excluding a population or group that may benefit from the research, please provide justification: we will exclude children. the original intervention (lamp) trial has established for efficacy in reducing chronic pain outcomes in adult population. children are not our target population as we focus on developing a culturally tailored chronic pain management program based on lamp.

Keywords: tailored psychosocial education intervention pain disparity korean americans asian americans chronic pain learn about my pain(lamp) program pain intensity pain interference pain catastrophizing community-based pain management program culturally adapted