Race and histories of mood disorders modulate experimental pain tolerance in women

Thirty-two African American and 23 non-Hispanic white women were compared for experimental pain threshold and tolerance to thermal, ischemic, and cold pressor pain. Approximately half of each group had prior mood disorders (17 African Americans, 13 non-Hispanic whites), though all were free of current mood disturbance. Women with prior mood disorders were less sensitive to ischemic pain than women with no prior mood disorders (P < .05), whereas African Americans were more sensitive to ischemic pain than non-Hispanic whites, though only at pain tolerance (P < .001). For cold pressor pain, the effects of race were only seen in women with prior mood disorders, since African Americans with prior mood disorders were more sensitive than non-Hispanic whites with prior mood disorders (P < .05). These results indicate that experimental pain sensitivity in women is influenced by both race and histories of mood disorders.

We examined the association of race and histories of mood disorders with experimental pain sensitivity in an exclusively female sample. Our findings for racial differences in pain sensitivity may have implications for greater clinical pain in African American women. Persistent disturbance in pain modulatory mechanisms in women with a history of mood disorders may also have implications for the development of subsequent mood disturbances.