Different pain responses to chronic and acute pain in various ethnic/racial groups

Abstract

Aim: Our goal in this study was to review the similarities and differences among ethnic groups and their respective responses to acute and chronic clinically related and experimentally induced pain.

Method: In this review, the PUBMED and Google-Scholar databases were searched to analyze articles that have assessed the variations in both acute and chronic pain responses among different ethnic/racial groups.

Results: According to the results from 42 reviewed articles, significant differences exist among ethnic-racial groups for pain prevalence as well as responses to acute and chronic pain. Compared with Caucasians, other ethnic groups are more susceptible to acute pain responses to nociceptive stimulation and to the development of long-term chronic pain.

Conclusion: These differences need to be addressed and assessed more extensively in the future in order to minimize the pain management disparities among various ethnic-racial groups and also to improve the relationship between pain management providers and their patients.

Keywords: acute pain; chronic pain; ethnicity variations; racial differences.