Opioid and tobacco co-use among black adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain: relations to pain experience, substance misuse, and mental health
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Abstract
Not all patients benefit equally from recent advances in chronic musculoskeletal pain care. Black adults in America suffer from greater chronic musculoskeletal pain and related consequences such as opioid and substance misuse than White adults. Internal and external factors such as perceived discrimination, hopelessness, pain catastrophizing, healthcare access, and healthcare provider bias, strongly impact the chronic MSK pain and related outcomes. However, to my knowledge no studies have evaluated the impact of co-use of substances such as tobacco with prescription opioids among Black individuals. I examined chronic musculoskeletal pain and related outcomes in Black adult smokers and nonsmokers, a population cohort that is often overlooked for research studies. This study enrolled 368 Black individuals with chronic MSK pain, 156 of which used tobacco products. I administered self-report questionnaires to investigate differences in their pain intensity, pain-related interference/disability, substance misuse, substance dependence, anxiety, and depression levels. My findings suggested that smoking tobacco products can indeed exacerbate chronic musculoskeletal pain intensity, pain-related interference/disability, substance misuse, substance dependence, anxiety, and depression in Black adults who use opioid medications.
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Attribution 4.0 International