• Joseph L Riley, James B Wade, Cynthia D Myers, David Sheffield, Rebecca K Papas, and Donald D Price.
• Division of Public Health Services and Research, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100404, Gainesville, FL 32610-0404, USA Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 980710, Richmond, VA 23286-0440, USA Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100277,Gainesville, FL 32610-0277, USA Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Health Professions, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100165, Gainesville, FL 32610-0165, USA Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100416, Gainesville, FL 32610-0416USA Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100416, Gainesville, FL 32610-0416, USA.
• Pain. 2002 Dec 1; 100 (3): 291-298.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic-related differences in a four-stage model of the processing of chronic pain. The subjects were 1557 chronic pain patients (White=1084, African American=473) evaluated at a pain management clinic at a large southeastern university medical center. Using an analysis of covariance controlling for pain duration and education, African American patients reported significantly higher levels of pain unpleasantness, emotional response to pain, and pain behavior, but not pain intensity than Whites. Differences were largest for the unpleasantness and emotion measures, particularly depression and fear. The groups differed by approximately 1.0 visual analogue scale unit, a magnitude that may be clinically significant. Racial/ethnic differences in the linear relationship between stages were also tested using structural equation modeling and LISREL-8. The results indicate differences in linear associations between pain measures with African Americans showing a stronger link between emotions and pain behavior than Whites.

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