JUNE 11, 2024
Black patients with chronic pain showed a higher likelihood of improvement in quality of life (QOL) with long-term opioid therapy than white patients, according to findings reported at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
“What we’ve learned is that there’s a preponderance of evidence suggesting that there is underdiagnosis and also undertreatment of pain in the Black community, and these phenomena deserve more attention with regard to what we can
Black patients with chronic pain showed a higher likelihood of improvement in quality of life (QOL) with long-term opioid therapy than white patients, according to findings reported at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
“What we’ve learned is that there’s a preponderance of evidence suggesting that there is underdiagnosis and also undertreatment of pain in the Black community, and these phenomena deserve more attention with regard to what we can do about it,” study researcher Umar Bowers, MD, and an internal medicine physician at Dawson Med, in Wilmington, N.C., told Pain Medicine News.
Researchers performed a single-center, cross-sectional study of chronic pain patients with a primary exposure of opioid use for the management of chronic pain. Participants (N=29) were divided into two groups: Black patients (n=18) and white patients (n=11). All patients were at least 45 years of age and had been receiving opioid therapy for more than 90 days.
Patients were given a QOL survey that asked two identical series of questions related to their chronic pain before receiving opioids compared with after opioid treatment. The researchers also collected patients’ insurance status and other social determinants of health. The study’s primary outcomes included the percentage of improvement by question and overall present improvement across each group, respectively.
“We viewed these circumstances through the lens of—if you are of the opinion, which I happen to be—that opioids can be safely and responsibly prescribed in certain patients,” Bowers noted.
Based on composite scores per question, data indicated a greater QOL improvement with opioid management for chronic pain in Black compared with white patients. However, an average of the overall percentage of improvement suggested to the investigators a large, but ultimately statistically insignificant difference (P=0.053) in QOL improvement for Black patients (68.4%) compared with white patients (46.4%).
The researchers concluded there was a consistent pattern in which Black patients with chronic pain had a greater chance of improving their QOL with opioid therapy compared with white patients. This underscored the significance of addressing unrecognized and undertreated chronic pain among Black patients, the researchers stated.
For future studies, Bowers said there are plans to expand the current study format and enroll more patients. He also alluded to delving deeper into the issue.
“As we know...the increase in opioid deaths amongst Black males has grown exponentially over the past several years, and what we’re trying to figure out is why is that?” Bowers said. “If we agree that the majority of overdose deaths that we’re seeing now are not from prescription opioids, is it possible to bring those patients into the house of medicine, and safely and responsibly treat their chronic pain? Because it’s perhaps an opportunity to decrease deaths from illicit opioids as well.”
—Landon Gray
Bowers reported no relevant financial disclosures.
