The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.

SMJ // Article

Letter to the Editor

The Sociocultural Dimensions of Pain in the Mid-South

Authors: Tonya T. Neaves, MPPA, Ike Eriator, MD, MPH, Holli H. Seitz, MPH, Arthur G. Cosby, PhD, Robert C. McMillen, PhD

Abstract

To the Editor:


Pain is a potentially important but poorly understood subject, affecting roughly 50 million people in the United States per year.1,2 Though an emerging body of literature is defining the presence, origins, and impacts of pain, as well as its treatment and management, little has been explored regarding its social and cultural characteristics.

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References

1.Stewart WF. New directions in pain research. JAMA 2003;290:2443–2454.
 
2.American Pain Foundation. Pain Facts: An Overview of American Pain Surveys [Internet]. Baltimore, MD, American Pain Foundation, c2002–2007. Available at: http://www.painfoundation.org/page.asp?file=Newsroom/PainSurveys.htm. Accessed August 17, 2007.
 
3.Cosby AG, Thornton-Neaves T, Rich L, et al. The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Pain: An Overview of the Southern Pain Prevalence Study 2004. Starkville, MS, Mississippi State University, Social Science Research Center SSRC Series Report, 2005.
 
4.Portenoy RK, Kanner ARM. Pain Management: Theory and Practice. Philadelphia, PA, F.A. Davis Company, 1996.
 
5.Eriator I, Moheyuddin S, Gibson-MacDonald S. Hospital pain improvement program changes pain-related myths held by hospital providers [abstract]. Pain Med 2005;6:175–176.