• Pain Manag Nurs · Oct 2015

    Health-Related Quality of Life and Pain Intensity Among Ethnically Diverse Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

    • Juyoung Park, Gabriella Engstrom, Ruth Tappen, and Joseph Ouslander.
    • School of Social Work, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. Electronic address: jpark14@fau.edu.
    • Pain Manag Nurs. 2015 Oct 1; 16 (5): 733742733-42.

    AbstractChronic pain is highly prevalent in older adults and often negatively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study compared HRQoL, including physical health and mental health, in persons of differing ethnicities, and identified factors associated with pain intensity and HRQoL in ethnically diverse older adults. Older adults with chronic pain from four ethnic groups (African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanics, and European Americans) were recruited from the Florida Atlantic University Healthy Aging Research Initiative (HARI) registry. The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to evaluate HRQoL, including functional status, emotional well-being, and social functioning. Of 593 persons in the four ethnic groups in the registry, 174 met the inclusion criteria (pain level of four or higher on an 11-point scale, lasting 3 months or longer). Among these 174, African Americans reported the highest level of pain intensity, followed by Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanics, and European Americans. Hispanics reported the highest physical health scores and the lowest mental health scores. In contrast, African Americans reported the highest mental health scores and the lowest physical health scores. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that ethnicity, lower physical health scores, and lower mental health scores were significantly (p ≤ .01) associated with pain intensity. Understanding ethnic variations in response to pain intensity may address gaps in knowledge about HRQoL to reduce disparities in optimal care. Health care providers should consider ethnic norms and cultural diversity to provide optimal interventions for this population.Copyright © 2015 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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