Abstract

Chronic musculoskeletal pain including knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Previous research indicates ethnic-race groups differ in the pain and functional limitations experienced with knee OA. However, when socioenvironmental factors are included in analyses, group differences in pain and function wane. Pain-related brain structures are another area where ethnic-race group differences have been observed. Environmental and sociocultural factors e.g., income, education, experiences of discrimination, and social support influence brain structures. We investigate if environmental and sociocultural factors reduce previously observed ethnic-race group differences in pain-related brain structures. Data were analyzed from 147 self-identified non-Hispanic black (NHB) and non-Hispanic white (NHW), middle and older aged adults with knee pain in the past month. Information collected included health and pain history, environmental and sociocultural resources, and brain imaging. The NHB adults were younger and reported lower income and education compared to their NHW peers. In hierarchical multiple regression models, sociocultural and environmental factors explained 6–37% of the variance in pain-related brain regions. Self-identified ethnicity-race provided an additional 4–13% of explanatory value in the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, bilateral primary somatosensory cortex, and thalamus. In the rostral/caudal anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, self-identified ethnicity-race was not a predictor after accounting for environmental, sociocultural, and demographic factors. Findings help to disentangle and identify some of the factors contributing to ethnic-race group disparities in pain-related brain structures. Numerous arrays of environmental and sociocultural factors remain to be investigated. Further, the differing sociodemographic representation of our NHB and NHW participants highlights the role for intersectional considerations in future research.

Details

Title
Environmental and sociocultural factors are associated with pain-related brain structure among diverse individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: intersectional considerations
Author
Domenico, Lisa H. 1 ; Tanner, Jared J. 2 ; Mickle, Angela M. 3 ; Terry, Ellen L. 4 ; Garvan, Cynthia 5 ; Lai, Song 6 ; Deshpande, Hrishikesh 7 ; Staud, Roland 8 ; Redden, David 9 ; Price, Catherine C. 2 ; Goodin, Burel R. 10 ; Fillingim, Roger B. 11 ; Sibille, Kimberly T. 12 

 University of Florida, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, College of Nursing, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Florida, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Florida, Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091); University of Florida, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Florida, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, College of Nursing, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091); University of Florida, Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Florida, Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Florida, Department of Radiation Oncology, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Radiology, Birmingham, USA (GRID:grid.265892.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 0634 4187) 
 University of Florida, Department of Rheumatology, College of Medicine, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
 University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Biostatistics, Birmingham, USA (GRID:grid.265892.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 0634 4187) 
10  University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychology, Birmingham, USA (GRID:grid.265892.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 0634 4187); Washington University, Department of Anesthesiology, St. Louis, USA (GRID:grid.34477.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2298 6657) 
11  University of Florida College of Dentistry, Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091); University of Florida, Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
12  University of Florida, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091); University of Florida, Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, Gainesville, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
Pages
7796
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3030939816
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.