ArticleJournal of the National Medical Association2007
When race matters: disagreement in pain perception between patients and their physicians in primary care.
Article in Journal of the National Medical Association, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 182 citations in OpenAlex.
- Learning to Unveil: Tackling Implicit Bias in Pain Recognition Through Education.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Trial
- Taking ACTION to reduce pain: ACTION study rationale, design and protocol of a randomized trial of a proactive telephone-based coaching intervention for chronic musculoskeletal pain among African Americans.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Trial
- Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2016Trial
- "It's Shaking Your Entire Construction as a Human Being": A Qualitative Analysis on Epistemic Injustice and Medical Gaslighting Consequences in Patients Living with Chronic Pain.The Journal of medicine and philosophy · 2026Article
- Racial and ethnic differences in opioid fills following cancer-directed surgery among older and younger Medicare beneficiaries.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
- Enacting Epistemic Justice to Promote Safer Care for People Living with Chronic Pain : A Clinician's Guide to Action.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Prescription Monitoring Program Mandates and Opioids Dispensed to Patients Dying of Cancer.JCO oncology practice · 2026Article
- Risk factors of genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder among Black women in the United States: A conceptual review.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Review
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pharmacologic and Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Among Older Cancer Survivors.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- State Medical Cannabis Policy Implementation and Racial Disparities in Opioid Prescribing Among Medicare Beneficiaries: A Policy Impact Analysis.AJPM focus · 2025Article
- An Ethical Framework for Addressing the Differential Impact of Systemic Racism and Inequities on Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Youth in the United States.Hormone research in paediatrics · 2025Review
- Self-rated pain and observed pain behavior in Black and White Americans with chronic low back pain.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- Racial, ethnic, and sex bias in large language model opioid recommendations for pain management.Pain · 2025Article
- Multimodal Pain Recognition in Postoperative Patients: Machine Learning Approach.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Tailoring treatment: dog breed status influences pain assessment and treatment in emergency veterinary care.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Racial biases, facial trustworthiness, and resting heart rate variability: unravelling complexities in pain recognition.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2024Article
- Generational and Gender Patterns of Prescription Opioid Misuse Among Black Adults.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
- Galvanizing the "Missing Revolution": Processes and Meanings of the Child/Adult Binary in the Social Construction of AgeAJS; American journal of sociology · 2024Article
- Racial Differences in Movement-Related Appraisals and Pain Behaviors Among Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Opioid prescriptions among Sami and non-Sami with chronic pain: The SAMINOR 2 Questionnaire Survey and the Norwegian Prescription Database.International journal of circumpolar health · 2023Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Patients and physicians often disagree in their assessment of pain intensity. This study explores the impact of patient factors on underestimation of pain intensity in chronic noncancer pain. We surveyed patients and their physicians in 12 primary care centers. To measure pain intensity, patients completed an 11-point numeric rating scale for which pain scores range from 0 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable pain). Physicians rated patients' pain on the same scale. We defined disagreement of pain intensity as underestimation or overestimation by 22 points. Of 601 patients approached, 463 (77%) completed the survey. The majority of participants were black (39%) or white (47%), 67% were female, and the mean age was 53 years. Physicians underestimated pain intensity relative to their patients 39% of the time. Forty-six percent agreed with their patients' pain perception, and 15% of physicians overestimated their patients' pain levels by > or =2 points. In both the bivariate and multivariable models, black race was a significant variable associated with underestimation of pain by physicians (p < 0.05; OR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.31-2.81). This study finds that physicians are twice as likely to underestimate pain in blacks patients compared to all other ethnicities combined. A qualitative study exploring why physicians rate blacks patients' pain low is warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
17534011PMC2576060W1538288831What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.