Shervin Assari; Mona Darvishi; Arash Rahmani; Seyedeh Mohaddeseh Khatami; Izadrad Najand; Babak Najand; Hossein Zare
Abstract
Background: The broad scientific community generally associates high socioeconomic status (SES) with better health. However, the protective effects of high educational attainment on health may be weaker for racial and ethnic minorities than non-Latino White individuals. It is important to study whether ...
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Background: The broad scientific community generally associates high socioeconomic status (SES) with better health. However, the protective effects of high educational attainment on health may be weaker for racial and ethnic minorities than non-Latino White individuals. It is important to study whether this difference holds for chronic pain among Black and Latino individuals.Objectives: To compare the association between educational attainment and chronic pain in the US, considering the racial and ethnic background of individuals.Methods: The current study used baseline data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH-Adults) study. All participants were 18+years old. A total number of 28204 Non-Latino, Latino, White, and Black individuals were enrolled. The outcome was chronic pain treated as a continuous measure. The predictor was educational attainment. Moderators were race and ethnicity.Results: Our linear regressions in the pooled sample showed that higher educational attainment was associated with a lower level of chronic pain; however, this association was weaker for Latinos and Blacks compared to non-Latino and White individuals. Our stratified models also showed that higher educational attainment was more consistently associated with a lower level of chronic pain for non-Latino White individuals than racial and ethnic minorities.Conclusion: The presumed protective effect of educational attainment against chronic pain among individuals varies between different racial and ethnic groups. Future research should test the role of stressful jobs and working conditions in weakening the protective effects of SES against chronic pain for Blacks and Latinos compared to non-Latino White individuals.
Tuba Erdem Sultanoğlu; Hasan Sultanoğlu
Abstract
Background: Overcrowding of emergency departments (EDs), which are not suitable places to treat chronic pain and are responsible for managing acute disorders, leads to prolonged waiting times, delays in treating conditions requiring rapid intervention, patient dissatisfaction, and chaos and exhaustion ...
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Background: Overcrowding of emergency departments (EDs), which are not suitable places to treat chronic pain and are responsible for managing acute disorders, leads to prolonged waiting times, delays in treating conditions requiring rapid intervention, patient dissatisfaction, and chaos and exhaustion in the ED.Objectives: Examine the characteristics of patients who presented to the ED with non-malignant chronic pain to determine the frequency of use and factors that caused ED use.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an ED. Three hundred ninety-two patients with chronic pain were included.Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.1 ± 15.3 years, 62.2% were female, and 37.8% were male. Of the patients, 59.2% were married, 42.6% had elementary school education, and 56.1% were unemployed. The most common cause of ED admission was low back pain (LBP), the 32.7% used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, 16.3% used opioid analgesics, 15.8% used anticonvulsants, 13.2% used anticonvulsants antidepressant drugs, 22% did not use any medication. The reasons for presenting to the ED for chronic pain were 13.3% for medication prescription, 74.5% for receiving analgesics, and 12.2% for a diagnosis. The mean Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale score of the participants was 12.82 ± 3.98, which indicated moderate depressive symptoms. The mean Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale score was 9.84 ± 3.23, which indicated mild generalized anxiety disorder.Conclusion: Instead of trying to suppress pain, emphasis should be put on preventing overcrowding in EDs, which are intended to manage acute conditions rather than chronic pai