Race and ethnicity do not affect baseline self-report of pain severity in patients with suspected long-bone fractures.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether race or ethnicity affect baseline description of pain by patients with suspected long-bone fracture.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of data from an observational study of patients age 18-55 in two urban emergency departments.


METHODS
Patients rated their pain using an 11-point scale, where 0 represents no pain, and 10 represents the worst possible pain.


RESULTS
Of 838 patients, 49% were Hispanic, 29% African American, and 22% White. Mean baseline pain scores were, respectively, 8.2, 8.1, and 7.7. In multivariate analysis, pair-wise comparisons showed no significant differences in pain self-report.


CONCLUSIONS
Ethnoracial oligoanalgesia cannot be explained by differences in baseline pain severity.
Bernstein
Steven L
SL
Department of Emergency Medicine, Monteflore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA. steven.bernstein@yale.edu
Gallagher
E John
EJ
Cabral
Lisa
L
Bijur
Polly
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D044469:Racial Groups; D055815:Young Adult