Dr. Ericka Merriwether - Personalized Pain Management for EveryBODY

Full title: Personalized Pain Management for EveryBODY: Considerations for Research and Clinical Care at the Intersections of Race and Health
About: Racism and weight-based stigma and bias are key determinants of pain and weight management outcomes. Intersectionality, a framework that describes how individual sociopolitical identities come together to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege, is being increasingly recognized as a useful conceptual model for studying health outcomes.
Weight-based pain disparities in medically underserved populations often lead to avoidance of the healthcare system and poorer quality of overall health care.
Thus, the evaluation of differences in pain outcomes based solely on isolated characteristics often obscure glaring disparities in pain management at the intersections of multiple identities. Importantly, health status around obesity and body type is often considered an aspect of identity. Thus, it is imperative to identify and eliminate pain disparities and inequities at the intersections of race and body size.
This talk will: 1) provide an overview of the disproportionate burden of chronic musculoskeletal pain at the intersections of race and obesity classification, 2) highlight research that examines select factors underlying the complex association between pain and obesity in racialized adults, and 3) discuss potential strategies for applying select principles of antiracist
pain research and intersectionality analytical frameworks to the study and clinical practice of chronic pain management.
Citations:
Merriwether EN, Agalave NM, Dailey DL, Rakel BA, Kolker SJ, Lennert M, Lane B, Spagnola WH, Lu Y, Geasland K, Allen LA, Burton MD, Sluka KA. IL-5 mediates monocyte phenotype and pain outcomes in fibromyalgia. Pain. 2021 May 1;162(5):1468-1482. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002089 PMID: 33003107
Fullwood D, Means S, Merriwether EN, Chimenti RL, Ahluwalia S, Booker SQ. Toward Understanding Movement-evoked Pain (MEP) and its Measurement: A Scoping Review. The clinical journal of pain. 2021;37(1):61-78. PMID: 33093342.
Merriwether EN, Wittleder S, Cho G, Bogan E, Wang B, Ravenell J, Jay MR. Associations Between Chronic Pain and Perceived Racial and Weight Discrimination In Participants Enrolled in a Primary Care Based Weight Management Clinical Trial: A Secondary Analysis, BMC public health 2022;21(1):2201. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12199-1.PMID: 34856961
Lenert, ME, Agalave, NM, Gomez R, Lane BT, Dailey DL, Crofford, LJ, Sluka, KA, Merriwether, EN*, Burton MD*. Translating outcomes from the clinical setting to preclinical models: chronic pain and functionality in chronic musculoskeletal pain. Pain Medicine, in press *Co-Senior Authors
Letzen JE, Mathur VA, Janevic MR, Burton MD, Hood AM, Morais CA, Booker SQ, Campbell CM, Aroke EN, Goodin BR, Campbell LC, Merriwether EN. Confronting racism in all forms of pain research: Reframing study designs. Journal of pain, S1526-5900(22)00030-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.01.010. in press
Morais CA, Aroke EN, Letzen JE, Campbell CM, Hood AM, Janevic MR, Mathur VA, Merriwether EN, Goodin BR, Booker SQ, Campbell LC. Confronting racism in pain research: A call to action. Journal of pain, S1526-5900(22)00029-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.01.009, in press
Hood AM, Booker SQ, Morais CA, Goodin BR, Letzen JE, Campbell LC, Merriwether EN, Aroke EN, Campbell CM, Mathur VA, Janevic MR. Confronting Racism in All Forms of Pain Research: A Shared Commitment for Engagement,
Diversity, and Dissemination. Journal of pain, S1526-5900(22)00028-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.01.008, in press