The relationship of demographic and psychosocial variables to pain-related outcomes in a rural chronic pain population

Rural residency and low socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with increased likelihood of chronic pain. Other demographics are also differentially associated with the experience of pain. This study examines the relations between demographic and pain-related variables in a virtually unstudied population of rural Alabama chronic pain patients. One hundred and fifteen patients completed validated measures of pain catastrophizing, depression, pain intensity, pain interference, perceived disability, and life satisfaction. Average age of study participants was 52-years, 79% were female, 74% were African-American, 72% reported annual income between 00,000-12,999, and 61% were unemployed. Although average years of reported education was 12.26, reading level percentile (primary literacy indicant) was 17.33. Cross-sectional multivariate and univariate analyses were conducted to examine associations among demographic and psychosocial variables in relation to various pre-treatment pain-related variables. The mediating role of pain catastrophizing and depression was investigated. Results indicate that race was significantly associated with pain intensity and pain interference, such that African-Americans reported higher scores than White-Americans. Pain catastrophizing was uniquely associated with pain intensity, pain interference, and perceived disability; depression was uniquely associated with pain interference and life satisfaction. Pain catastrophizing mediated the relation between primary literacy and pain intensity; age effects were differentially mediated by either pain catastrophizing or depression. These analyses provide an insight into the specific demographic and psychosocial factors associated with chronic pain in a low-literacy, low-SES rural population.