Abstract B043: Is pain preventing African Americans from reducing their cancer risk?
Authors: Suragh Tiffany , McNeill Lorna H. , Nguyen Nga 
Published: January 2023

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of bodily pain and its association with cancer prevention and risk reducing lifestyle factors among African Americans. Background: Bodily pain can impact an individual’s psychological, physical and socioeconomic well-being and studies have shown that African Americans have a higher prevalence of reporting bodily pain. Additionally, African Americans report a higher prevalence of modifiable cancer risk factors, such as physical inactivity and obesity. We sought to examine the association between physical activity, sedentary time, obesity, sleep, and psychosocial factors (i.e., depression) and self-reported bodily pain among a convenience sample of African Americans church goers. Methods: Participants were recruited from a large mega church in Houston, Texas and surveys were completed on-site using a computerized questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine associations between bodily pain and cancer risk factors. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, income, educational level, employment status, chronic conditions and depression. Results: Of a total of 1408 participants, the average age was 51 and 1065 (76%) of the sample were females. 218 (15%) reported moderate to extreme pain; more than half (N=805, 57%) of the sample reported having chronic conditions; and 268 (19%) reported having depression. Slightly more than half, (N= 745,53%) of the sample was obese, 335 (24%) reported low physical activity, 403 (29%) reported sleeping 5 hours or less and 305 (22%) reported very bad/fairly bad sleep quality. The average hours spent per day in sitting and sedentary time were 6 and 9 respectively. Chi-square tests revealed significant associations between moderate to extreme bodily pain and education (p &lt; 0.001), income (p &lt; 0.001), employment status (p &lt; 0.001), chronic conditions (p &lt; 0.001), depression (p &lt; 0.001), BMI (p &lt; 0.001), physical activity (p &lt; 0.001), sleep duration (p &lt; 0.001), sleep quality (p &lt; 0.001) and sedentary time (p &lt; 0.001). Increased hours spent in sedentary time was associated with higher odds of reporting pain (OR=1.08 (1.03- 1.12). Medium and high physical activity (OR=0.63 (0.41- 0.96)) and (OR=0.51 (0.34- 0.77)), reporting 6 hours or more of sleep (OR=0.69 (0.49- 0.98)) and reporting very good/fairly good sleep quality (OR=0.57 (0.39- 0.84)) were associated with lower odds of reporting bodily pain. Obesity and increased hours per day in sitting time (e.g., watching tv) were not significantly associated with bodily pain. Conclusions: African Americans are at risk for both bodily pain and modifiable cancer risk factors and our findings suggest an association between bodily pain and less engagement in healthy lifestyle factors. Findings can inform interventions aimed at reducing cancer risk among African Americans by addressing undetected barriers like bodily pain.

Citation Format: Tiffany Suragh, Lorna H. McNeill, Nga Nguyen. Is pain preventing African Americans from reducing their cancer risk? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B043.