The following is a summary of “ Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Markers of Chronic Pain Risk: Findings From the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk (OK-SNAP),” published in the September 2024 issue of Pain by Kell et al.

Socioeconomic disadvantage is known to contribute to health inequities, including chronic pain. Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze relationships between socioeconomic position (SEP), ethnicity, and neighborhood disadvantage on pronociceptive processes in Native Americans (NAs) and non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs).

They investigated 272 healthy, chronic pain-free individuals, including 139 NAs and 133 NHWS  from OK-SNAP. Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was used to measure neighborhood disadvantage. Regression models were utilized for ADI-predicted pain-promoting outcomes (such as peripheral fiber functionality, pain sensitivity, pain, nociceptive amplification, and endogenous pain inhibition) exceeding SEP and ethnicity, and relations between ethnicity and ADI were interpreted.

The results showed that from the 11 outcomes tested, only 2 were important, including neighborhood disadvantage, which predicted impaired inhibition of the nociceptive flexion reflex beyond SEP and ethnicity. Ethnicity mediated the association between ADI and warm detection threshold; neighborhood disadvantage was correlated with elevated thresholds for NAs.

They concluded neighborhood disadvantage was related to decreased C-fiber function and impaired spinal inhibition, signifying the role of environmental aspects in pain inequities.

Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(24)00615-1/abstract