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Pain and Poverty: Disparities by Poverty Level in the Experience of Pain-Related Interference
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA.
Objective:
To assess the relationship between poverty and pain-related interference.
Subjects:
Data on a sample of 108,259 adults aged 18 and older from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from 2013 to 2017 were analyzed.
Methods:
I assess the odds of reporting any pain-related interference, as well as increasing levels of pain-related interference, using binary and ordinal logistic regression, respectively.
Results:
After controlling for covariates, the analysis showed a significant association between poverty and pain-related interference, with more severe levels of poverty associated with increased odds of reporting any pain-related interference as well as increased levels of pain-related interference. However, Hispanics were less likely to report any pain-related interference overall, and more severe levels of poverty were associated with decreased odds of reporting pain among Hispanics.
Conclusions:
Policy makers should regard poverty as a social determinant of health, taking poverty and socioeconomic status into consideration when designing health policies.
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