Abstract

Introduction: Pain is a common emergency department complaint. It is important tounderstand the differences in pain perception among different ethnic and demographic populations. Methods: We applied a standardized painful stimulus to Caucasian and Latino adult patients todetermine whether the level of pain reported differed depending on ethnicity and gender. Patients had an initial painscore of 0 or 1. A blood pressure cuff was inflated 20 mm HG above the patient’s systolic bloodpressure and held for three minutes. Pain scores, using both a 10-cm visual analog scale anda five-point Likert scale, were taken at the point of maximal stimulus, and at one- and two-minute intervals post deflation. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the Likert scale scores of Caucasianand Latino patients at 2min 50sec, but not on the VAS. Women had a higher perception of pain than males at2min 50sec on the VAS, and the Likert scale. Conclusion: Latinos and women report greater pain with a standardized pain stimulus as comparedto Caucasians and men.