ABSTRACT
One of the greatest obstacles to the effective treatment of chronic pain is the temptation of clinicians to explain it solely in terms of physiological mechanisms. Without recognizing the complex interaction between pathophysiology and psychosocial factors, chronic pain cannot be adequately understood and, accordingly, cannot be adequately treated. Since the pioneering work of Chapman and Jones, (1944) and Zborowski (1952), numerous researchers have examined racial and ethnic influences on patients’ perceptions and responses to acute and chronic pain experience. The findings of a myriad of studies on group differences in pain experience and response are mixed, which may be due, to a certain extent, to methodological issues. While additional research on racial and ethnic differences in the experience and meaning of pain may be useful, the possibility exists that findings will only marginally affect the quality of treatment minorities with chronic pain receive. Of greater importance, perhaps, is how diverse racial and ethnic groups’ views of pain, health care providers, medications, and the medical system as a whole along with physician and medical system variables affect their access to the treatment that is likely to meet their specific needs.
