The growing evidence base unequivocally supports the persistence of glaring racial and ethnic inequities and biases in pain reporting and management that lead to disability and diminished quality of life across various pain conditions. Moreover, research in pain equity and management often centers on the perspectives of people from Western, industrialized, educated, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) countries. Sociocultural pain neuroscience has emerged as a subfield that employs conceptual frameworks to examine the interactions between social factors, culture, and health. The field addresses how sociocultural factors, such as racism, shape pain neurobiology and intersect with cultural values and beliefs to influence the incidence and presentation of pain in different cultures and ethnicities across pain conditions. The application of anti-racism principles into pain research praxis builds on this scientific approach using strategies that promote unbiased measurement and reporting of sociocultural factors and inclusion of culturally relevant variables into predictive models of pain outcomes.
The focus of this Research Topic will be to highlight research that examines pain disparities using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method methodologies that measure and document the influence of social factors, culture, and beliefs on pain mechanisms and outcomes in a global context. Manuscripts should explicitly utilize anti-racist and/or sociocultural neuroscience frameworks to understand disparities in pain and accelerate the transition towards equity in pain management (please see Booker et al, J Pain, 2021). Research that examines acute pain, the acute-to-chronic pain transition, and chronic pain in multiple body systems across the lifespan will be included. The goal of this Research Topic is to present multidisciplinary research from across the spectrum of pain research from basic to translational to implementation science.
Manuscripts that examine pain using dynamic pain modulatory methods, epidemiological approaches, and qualitative and mixed methods are among the approaches welcome in this Research Topic. The editorial team encourages the submission of studies conducted in
medically underserved populations, in non-traditional settings, and pragmatic trials. Preclinical studies that address how model the social factors leading to pain inequities in animal models of pain will also be considered.
Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:
Inter- and intra-individual variability in pain measurement
Community engagement/community health workers
Sociocultural mechanisms of racial, ethnic, ancestral, or genetic differences in pain
Modeling of stress or behaviors that are related to social factors in preclinical (animal) models of pain
Neurobiological connections between pain and culture
Qualitative methods of pain reporting
Clinical trial design and implementation studies
Role of technology in the mitigation of pain disparities
Theoretical and conceptual papers with strong evidence supporting the proposition of the model(s)/framework(s)
Study protocol papers that address design, methodologies, implementation, or dissemination strategies
The growing evidence base unequivocally supports the persistence of glaring racial and ethnic inequities and biases in pain reporting and management that lead to disability and diminished quality of life across various pain conditions. Moreover, research in pain equity and management often centers on the perspectives of people from Western, industrialized, educated, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) countries. Sociocultural pain neuroscience has emerged as a subfield that employs conceptual frameworks to examine the interactions between social factors, culture, and health. The field addresses how sociocultural factors, such as racism, shape pain neurobiology and intersect with cultural values and beliefs to influence the incidence and presentation of pain in different cultures and ethnicities across pain conditions. The application of anti-racism principles into pain research praxis builds on this scientific approach using strategies that promote unbiased measurement and reporting of sociocultural factors and inclusion of culturally relevant variables into predictive models of pain outcomes.
The focus of this Research Topic will be to highlight research that examines pain disparities using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method methodologies that measure and document the influence of social factors, culture, and beliefs on pain mechanisms and outcomes in a global context. Manuscripts should explicitly utilize anti-racist and/or sociocultural neuroscience frameworks to understand disparities in pain and accelerate the transition towards equity in pain management (please see Booker et al, J Pain, 2021). Research that examines acute pain, the acute-to-chronic pain transition, and chronic pain in multiple body systems across the lifespan will be included. The goal of this Research Topic is to present multidisciplinary research from across the spectrum of pain research from basic to translational to implementation science.
Manuscripts that examine pain using dynamic pain modulatory methods, epidemiological approaches, and qualitative and mixed methods are among the approaches welcome in this Research Topic. The editorial team encourages the submission of studies conducted in
medically underserved populations, in non-traditional settings, and pragmatic trials. Preclinical studies that address how model the social factors leading to pain inequities in animal models of pain will also be considered.
Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:
Inter- and intra-individual variability in pain measurement
Community engagement/community health workers
Sociocultural mechanisms of racial, ethnic, ancestral, or genetic differences in pain
Modeling of stress or behaviors that are related to social factors in preclinical (animal) models of pain
Neurobiological connections between pain and culture
Qualitative methods of pain reporting
Clinical trial design and implementation studies
Role of technology in the mitigation of pain disparities
Theoretical and conceptual papers with strong evidence supporting the proposition of the model(s)/framework(s)
Study protocol papers that address design, methodologies, implementation, or dissemination strategies