title: Racial differences in pain treatment and empathy in a Canadian sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence of inadequate pain treatment as a result of patient race has been extensively documented, yet remains poorly understood. Previous research has indicated that nonwhite patients are significantly more likely to be undertreated for pain.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether previous findings of racial biases in pain treatment recommendations and empathy are generalizable to a sample of Canadian observers and, if so, to determine whether empathy biases mediate the pain treatment disparity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty Canadian undergraduate students (24 men and 26 women) watched videos of black and white patients exhibiting facial expressions of pain. Participants provided pain treatment decisions and reported their feelings of empathy for each patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants demonstrated both a prowhite treatment bias and a prowhite empathy bias, reporting more empathy for white patients than black patients and prescribing more pain treatment for white patients than black patients. Empathy was found to mediate the effect of race on pain treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study closely replicate those from a previous study of American observers, providing evidence that a prowhite bias is not a peculiar feature of the American population. These results also add support to the claim that empathy plays a crucial role in racial pain treatment disparity.
authors.affiliation: University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia.
authors.forename: Kimberley A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kaseweter
authors.forename: Brian B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Drwecki
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Prkachin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D004645:Empathy; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult