{"title":"Sexual Identity Differences in Chronic Pain: Results from the 2019 to 2021 National Health Interview Survey","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.amepre.2024.06.017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Chronic pain has been highlighted as an important public health and clinical health issue. The prevalence of chronic pain has been increasing, with notable disparities for many minoritized populations. However, evidence regarding sexual minoritized populations and chronic pain is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the prevalence of chronic pain among men and women by sexual identity.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Data from the 2019 to 2021 National Health Interview Survey (<em>n</em><span>=78,686), a population-based public health surveillance system were analyzed in 2023–2024. This included 592 lesbian/gay and 952 bisexual women as well as 868 gay and 317 bisexual men. Chronic pain measures included frequency, amount of pain, pain limiting activities, and pain affecting family and others. Covariates included age, race/ethnicity, relationship status, education attainment, income, and employment status.</span></p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>After adjusting for covariates, significantly (<em>p</em><0.05) more gay/lesbian (26.7%) and bisexual (31.6%) women reported experiencing chronic pain “most days or everyday” than straight women (21.7%). More bisexual women reported chronic pain as well as negative impacts in their life due to chronic pain than straight women. More bisexual men also reported experiencing chronic pain “most days or everyday” compared to straight men (26.1% versus 19.6%), although no differences were found for other aspects of pain.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Sexual minoritized populations have a greater burden of chronic pain that should be considered in moving forward in pain work. Future work in this area is needed to understand why these disparities exist and how best to provide care and treatment to those affected.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50805,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Preventive Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Preventive Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379724002149","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction
Chronic pain has been highlighted as an important public health and clinical health issue. The prevalence of chronic pain has been increasing, with notable disparities for many minoritized populations. However, evidence regarding sexual minoritized populations and chronic pain is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the prevalence of chronic pain among men and women by sexual identity.
Methods
Data from the 2019 to 2021 National Health Interview Survey (n=78,686), a population-based public health surveillance system were analyzed in 2023–2024. This included 592 lesbian/gay and 952 bisexual women as well as 868 gay and 317 bisexual men. Chronic pain measures included frequency, amount of pain, pain limiting activities, and pain affecting family and others. Covariates included age, race/ethnicity, relationship status, education attainment, income, and employment status.
Results
After adjusting for covariates, significantly (p<0.05) more gay/lesbian (26.7%) and bisexual (31.6%) women reported experiencing chronic pain “most days or everyday” than straight women (21.7%). More bisexual women reported chronic pain as well as negative impacts in their life due to chronic pain than straight women. More bisexual men also reported experiencing chronic pain “most days or everyday” compared to straight men (26.1% versus 19.6%), although no differences were found for other aspects of pain.
Conclusions
Sexual minoritized populations have a greater burden of chronic pain that should be considered in moving forward in pain work. Future work in this area is needed to understand why these disparities exist and how best to provide care and treatment to those affected.
期刊介绍:
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine is the official journal of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research. It publishes articles in the areas of prevention research, teaching, practice and policy. Original research is published on interventions aimed at the prevention of chronic and acute disease and the promotion of individual and community health.
Of particular emphasis are papers that address the primary and secondary prevention of important clinical, behavioral and public health issues such as injury and violence, infectious disease, women''s health, smoking, sedentary behaviors and physical activity, nutrition, diabetes, obesity, and substance use disorders. Papers also address educational initiatives aimed at improving the ability of health professionals to provide effective clinical prevention and public health services. Papers on health services research pertinent to prevention and public health are also published. The journal also publishes official policy statements from the two co-sponsoring organizations, review articles, media reviews, and editorials. Finally, the journal periodically publishes supplements and special theme issues devoted to areas of current interest to the prevention community.