The Relationship Between Pain, Disability, and Sex in African Americans

Overview

Journal Pain Manag Nurs

Specialties Neurology
Nursing
Psychiatry

Date 2016 Aug 25

PMID 27553130

Citations 9

Authors

Janiece L Walker

Roland J Thorpe Jr

Tracie C Harrison

Tamara A Baker

Michael Cary

Sarah L Szanton

Jason C Allaire

Keith E Whitfield

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Older African Americans consistently report diminished capacities to perform activities of daily living (ADL) compared with other racial groups. The extent to which bodily pain is related to declining abilities to perform ADL/ADL disability in African Americans remains unclear, as does whether this relationship exists to the same degree in African American men and women. For nurses to provide optimal care for older African Americans, a better understanding of the relationship between bodily pain and ADL disability and how it may differ by sex is needed. The aim of this study was to examine whether pain, age, education, income, marital status and/or comorbid conditions were associated with ADL disabilities in older African American women and men. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample included 598 participants (446 women, 152 men) from the first wave of the Baltimore Study on Black Aging. African American women (odds ratio [OR] = 4.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.63-6.26) and African American men (OR = 6.44; 95% CI = 2.84-14.57) who reported bodily pain had greater ADL disability than those who did not report bodily pain. Having two or more comorbid conditions also was significantly associated with ADL disability in African American women (OR = 3.95; 95% CI: 2.09-7.47). Further work is needed to understand pain differences between older African American women and men to develop interventions that can be tailored to meet the individual pain needs of both groups.

Citing Articles

Association of body mass index with disability in activities of daily living in older adults: a systematic review of the literature based on longitudinal data.

Lingying W, Hong Z, Hongxiu C, Ziyi H, Mei F, Menglin T BMC Public Health. 2025; 25(1):6.

PMID: 39748352 PMC: 11697817. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-21234-w.

A protocol for a wait list control trial of an intervention to improve pain and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older African American women.

Taylor J, Clair C, Lee J, Atkins S, Riser T, Szanton S Contemp Clin Trials. 2023; 132:107299.

PMID: 37478967 PMC: 10527967. DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2023.107299.

A biopsychosocial approach assessing pain indicators among Black men.

Baker T, Morales K, Brooks A, Clark J, Wakita A, Whitt-Glover M Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2023; 4:1060960.

PMID: 36860329 PMC: 9968840. DOI: 10.3389/fpain.2023.1060960.

Disparities and Racism Experienced Among Older African Americans Nearing End of Life.

Aaron S, Gazaway S, Harrell E, Elk R Curr Geriatr Rep. 2021; 10(4):157-166.

PMID: 34956825 PMC: 8685164. DOI: 10.1007/s13670-021-00366-6.

Chronic Pain Severity and Sociodemographics: An Evaluation of the Neurobiological Interface.

Tanner J, Cardoso J, Terry E, Booker S, Glover T, Garvan C J Pain. 2021; 23(2):248-262.

PMID: 34425249 PMC: 8828699. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2021.07.010.

References

Thorpe Jr R, Wynn A, Walker J, Smolen J, Cary M, Szanton S . Relationship Between Chronic Conditions and Disability in African American Men and Women. J Natl Med Assoc. 2016; 108(1):90-8. PMC: 5809332. DOI: 10.1016/j.jnma.2015.12.012. View

Booker S, Pasero C, Herr K . Practice recommendations for pain assessment by self-report with African American older adults. Geriatr Nurs. 2015; 36(1):67-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2014.08.014. View

Cummings S, Neff J, Husaini B . Functional impairment as a predictor of depressive symptomatology: the role of race, religiosity, and social support. Health Soc Work. 2003; 28(1):23-32. DOI: 10.1093/hsw/28.1.23. View

Baker T, Green C . Intrarace differences among black and white americans presenting for chronic pain management: the influence of age, physical health, and psychosocial factors. Pain Med. 2005; 6(1):29-38. DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2005.05014.x. View

Furner S, Giloth B, Arguelles L, Miles T, Goldberg J . A co-twin control study of physical function in elderly African America women. J Aging Health. 2004; 16(1):28-43. DOI: 10.1177/0898264303260391. View

Baker T, Whitfield K . Physical functioning in older blacks: an exploratory study identifying psychosocial and clinical predictors. J Natl Med Assoc. 2006; 98(7):1114-20. PMC: 2569446. View

Leveille S, Bean J, Ngo L, McMullen W, Guralnik J . The pathway from musculoskeletal pain to mobility difficulty in older disabled women. Pain. 2006; 128(1-2):69-77. PMC: 2555988. DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.08.031. View

Eggermont L, Leveille S, Shi L, Kiely D, Shmerling R, Jones R . Pain characteristics associated with the onset of disability in older adults: the maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the Elderly Boston Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014; 62(6):1007-16. PMC: 4057984. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.12848. View

Harrison T . Health disparities among Latinas aging with disabilities. Fam Community Health. 2008; 32(1 Suppl):S36-45. PMC: 2860282. DOI: 10.1097/01.FCH.0000342838.05607.63. View

10.

Green C, Baker T, Sato Y, Washington T, Smith E . Race and chronic pain: A comparative study of young black and white Americans presenting for management. J Pain. 2003; 4(4):176-83. DOI: 10.1016/s1526-5900(02)65013-8. View

11.

Calasanti T . Feminist gerontology and old men. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2004; 59(6):S305-14. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/59.6.s305. View

12.

Katz S, Ford A, Moskowitz R, Jackson B, JAFFE M . STUDIES OF ILLNESS IN THE AGED. THE INDEX OF ADL: A STANDARDIZED MEASURE OF BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTION. JAMA. 1963; 185:914-9. DOI: 10.1001/jama.1963.03060120024016. View

13.

Szanton S, Thorpe R, Boyd C, Tanner E, Leff B, Agree E . Community aging in place, advancing better living for elders: a bio-behavioral-environmental intervention to improve function and health-related quality of life in disabled older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011; 59(12):2314-20. PMC: 3245364. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03698.x. View

14.

Gilmour H, Park J . Dependency, chronic conditions and pain in seniors. Health Rep. 2006; 16 Suppl:21-31. View

15.

Thorpe Jr R, Koster A, Kritchevsky S, Newman A, Harris T, Ayonayon H . Race, socioeconomic resources, and late-life mobility and decline: findings from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2011; 66(10):1114-23. PMC: 3172564. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glr102. View

16.

Louie G, Ward M . Socioeconomic and ethnic differences in disease burden and disparities in physical function in older adults. Am J Public Health. 2010; 101(7):1322-9. PMC: 3110229. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.199455. View

17.

Walker J, Harrison T, Brown A, Thorpe Jr R, Szanton S . Factors associated with disability among middle-aged and older African American women with osteoarthritis. Disabil Health J. 2016; 9(3):510-7. PMC: 4903915. DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.02.004. View

18.

Burgess D, Grill J, Noorbaloochi S, Griffin J, Ricards J, Van Ryn M . The effect of perceived racial discrimination on bodily pain among older African American men. Pain Med. 2009; 10(8):1341-52. DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2009.00742.x. View

19.

Meghani S, Houldin A . The meanings of and attitudes about cancer pain among African Americans. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2007; 34(6):1179-86. DOI: 10.1188/07.ONF.1179-1186. View

20.

Thorpe Jr R, Kennedy-Hendricks A, Griffith D, Bruce M, Coa K, Bell C . Race, Social and Environmental Conditions, and Health Behaviors in Men. Fam Community Health. 2015; 38(4):297-306. PMC: 5052072. DOI: 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000078. View