Project -Racial Biases in Pain Treatment: Tests of pain-care recommendations, treatment biases, and race perception mechanisms

Project Coordinator: Kathleen Hopps

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Pain is the most frequently cited reason Americans seek medical aid, is the most common cause of long-term disability, and costs an estimated $635 billion per year. However, pain care is not equitably distributed. Black patients receive less intensive and guideline-directed pain care than White patients. The objective of this grant is to identify treatment biases, examine the race- perception processes theorized to underlie treatment biases, and empirically test a novel intervention to address problematic race-perception processes. Currently, we are investigating the pattern of clinician biases in pain care for White, Black, and multiracial Black/White hypothetical patients. Our next aim is to examine the extent to which person perception processes are associated with clinician treatment recommendations for hypothetical Black, White, and Black/White patients. Finally, we will test a psychological intervention designed to attenuate race perception biases.