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Study finds demographic disparities in chronic pain management, with factors such as metropolitan residence, higher income, and education influencing the use of integrative health and non-opioid modalities, while older age, male sex, and daily opioid use are associated with reduced engagement, suggesting a need for targeted interventions in underserved groups.

The following is a summary of “Engagement in Integrative and Nonpharmacologic Pain Management Modalities Among Adults with Chronic Pain: Analysis of the 2019 National Health Interview Survey,” published in the January 2024 issue of Pain by Melnick et al.

Researchers started a retrospective study to investigate factors influencing US adults with chronic pain to utilize integrative health and medicine (IHM)  and non-opioid modalities over opioids for pain management.

They utilized data from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey to investigate sociodemographic, pain and mental health factors influencing total number of IHM employed for pain management, including chiropractic care, yoga/Tai Chi, massage, or meditation/guided imagery, and exclusive involvement in nonpharmacologic pain management methods (such as IHM, a chronic pain self-management program, support groups, or physical, rehabilitative, occupational, or talk therapy) or opioid usage within the past three months.

The results showed that residing in metropolitan areas, having a higher family income, attaining higher education levels, experiencing more pain locations, and encountering a higher frequency of pain-limiting life/work activities were linked to higher odds of Integrative Health Modality (IHM) engagement. Conversely, older age, male sex, non-Hispanic Black/African American race/ethnicity, and daily opioid use were associated with reduced odds of IHM engagement. Older age, male sex, and elevated depressive symptoms correlated with a decrease in the count of IHM modalities used for pain management. City living, higher income, and more education increased the odds of exclusive nonpharmacologic modality engagement. Older age and increased pain-related limitations were linked to lower odds of complete engagement in nonpharmacologic modalities.

They concluded that disparities in chronic pain management identified non-opioid users differ from overall demographics, suggesting targeted interventions for underserved groups.

Source: dovepress.com/engagement-in-integrative-and-nonpharmacologic-pain-management-modalit-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-JPR