Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Previous research suggests female and black patients receive less optimal treatment for their chronic pain compared with male and white patients. Provider-related factors are hypothesized to contribute to unequal treatment, but these factors have not been examined extensively. This mixed methods investigation examined the influence of patients' demographic characteristics on providers' treatment decisions and providers' awareness of these influences on their treatment decisions. ⋯ These findings suggest there is a considerable variability in the extent to which medical trainees are influenced by patient demographics and their awareness of these decision making influences.
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The present study tested the independent and interactive contributions of the somatosensory component of pain (pain intensity) and the affective component of pain (pain unpleasantness) on emotional, social, and daily functioning in chronic pain patients. ⋯ Results suggest that both intensity and unpleasantness contribute unique variance to functional outcomes. The results highlight the importance of interventions that not only try to reduce pain levels but also reduce levels of pain unpleasantness.