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The majority of studies reveal racial and ethnic disparities in access to effective pain treatment akin to disparities found in other medical services. Quality improvement initiatives that improve treatment of pain for all patients according to established guidelines should decrease disparities by race or ethnicity. Educational interventions should aim to improve patient-provider communication regarding pain and its treatment and should provide support around substance abuse issues. Further research is needed to examine pain treatment outcomes and to determine whether health care system factors lead to these disparities.
Cintron et al. (Fri,) studied this question.