Open AccessPain among Older H ispanics in the U nited S tates: Is Acculturation Associated with Pain?
Author(s) -
Jimenez Nathalia,
Dansie Elizabeth,
Buchwald Dedra,
Goldberg Jack
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/pme.12147
Subject(s) - acculturation , medicine , confidence interval , odds ratio , demography , logistic regression , immigration , health and retirement study , generalized estimating equation , gerontology , cross sectional study , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , pathology , sociology , history
Background Previous studies suggest that acculturation may influence the experience of pain. Study Design We conducted a cross‐sectional study to estimate the association between acculturation and the prevalence, intensity, and functional limitations of pain in older H ispanic adults in the U nited S tates.Methods Subjects Participants were E nglish‐ ( HE ) and S panish‐speaking ( HS ) H ispanic and non‐ H ispanic W hite ( NHW ) individuals aged 50 years and older who were interviewed for the H ealth and R etirement S tudy during 1998–2008. Measures We measured: 1) acculturation as defined by language used in interviews, and 2) the presence, intensity, and functional limitations of pain. Analysis We applied logistic regression using generalized estimating equations, with NHW as the reference category. Results Among 18,593 participants (16,733 NHW , 824 HE , and 1,036 HS ), HS had the highest prevalence (odds ratio [ OR ] = 1.3; 95% confidence interval [ CI = 1.1–1.4) and intensity ( OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.4–1.9) of pain, but these differences were not significant after adjusting for age, sex, years of education, immigration status ( U . S .‐ vs non‐ U . S ‐born), and health status (number of health conditions). Even after adjustment, HS reported the lowest levels of functional limitation ( OR = 0.7; 95% CI 0.6–0.9). Conclusion Pain prevalence and intensity were not related to acculturation after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, while functional limitation was significantly lower among HS even after adjusting for known risk factors. Future studies should explore the reasons for this difference.