Feinuo Sun
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, University of Texas at Arlington
Kai Zhang
Empire Innovation Associate Professor, University at Albany
Background: The prevalence of chronic pain has been rising in the U.S. over the past decades, particularly among middle-aged and older adults. This is an alarming trend that could lead to tremendous economic and healthcare burden given the severe consequences of pain, such as disability and opioid addiction. Addressing this challenge requires understanding the determinants of pain. Limited attention has been given to the geographic disparities of pain and the influential factors at the neighborhood level. The aim of this proposed study is to examine how temperature (i.e., exposure to extreme heat or cold) shapes the severity of pain and how this association varies across different population groups based on their race and ethnicity, education, and neighborhood SES. This study is among the first using nationally representative longitudinal survey data spanning over 10 years to investigate how pain disparities among older adults are shaped by the natural environmental factors linked with their living places.
Aim 1: To examine the association between ambient temperature in neighborhoods and pain outcomes among middle-aged and older adults. Using the pooled 2006-2020 HRS data, we will
examine whether exposure to extreme heat and extreme cold is associated with pain outcomes in middle-aged and older adults.
Aim 2: To examine whether race and ethnicity, education, and neighborhood SES modify temperature-pain associations among middle-aged and older adults. We will include interaction terms between temperature variables and race and ethnicity, education, and neighborhood SES, to examine whether the effect of temperature on pain varies by subgroups.