Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Chronic Low Back Pain

Award Number: R01MD017565
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/10/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Chronic Low Back Pain - Low back pain is one of the most common disabling conditions in the world. The worldwide prevalence of activity-limiting (acute and chronic) low back pain is approximately 12%, which equates to approximately 933 million people globally suffering with low back pain at any given time. Chronic low back pain (cLBP) refers to pain lasting at least twelve weeks or longer, and it is consistently among the top five most common reasons for primary care physician visits. Although some individuals with cLBP have clear pathoanatomic causes of pain, the vast majority of cLBP is “non-specific” and is not accompanied by readily identifiable pathology of the spine or related tissues. Without a clear target for treatment of cLBP, effective pain management can be difficult to achieve. Because objective measures of disease activity have not consistently been strong predictors of clinical symptoms, cLBP provides an excellent model for investigating the influence of social determinants such as racial background and social stress on the progression of pain and disability over time. During our previous funding cycle, we found evidence that non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals with cLBP reported significantly greater pain severity and disability than their non-Hispanic White (NHW) counterparts. In addition, we observed racial differences in pain-related psychosocial and biological measures, which were significantly associated with racial group disparities in cLBP severity. Furthermore, racial disparities in cLBP were exacerbated by low socioeconomic status (SES), such that NHBs with low SES demonstrated the absolute greatest burden of cLBP. While our findings demonstrate clear racial differences in cLBP severity and disability between NHBs and NHWs, the findings are largely indirect and cross-sectional. Differences in how cLBP progresses over time between NHBs and NHWs, as well as factors that contribute to cLBP progression, remain poorly understood. Among the multiple factors that inevitably contribute to racial group differences in cLBP, social stress represents a potentially important social determinant of greater cLBP severity and disability in NHBs. For this proposed follow-up study, we will elucidate the contribution of social stress and its biological consequences (i.e., allostatic load) to racial group disparities in cLBP by prospectively assessing the two-year progression of clinical pain and disability, as well as pain-relevant psychosocial functioning among NHBs and NHWs with cLBP. We will use Social Safety Theory (developed by our co-investigator, Dr. George Slavich) to guide the study aims related to the progression of racial group disparities in cLBP; however, we will also use a recently developed resilience framework to guide inclusion of psychosocial resilience factors that may mitigate the effects of social stress on cLBP in NHBs and/or NHWs.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $667,061 )
2026	2026	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	1 BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	4	1/2/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$600,356
2026	2026	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	1 BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	4	2/22/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$66,705
														Subtotal = $667,061

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $667,061 )
2025	2025	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	1 BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	002	3	8/12/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	1 BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	3	7/30/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$66,705
2025	2025	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	1 BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	3	12/22/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$600,356
														Subtotal = $667,061

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $647,051 )
2024	2024	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	ONE BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63110	SAINT LOUIS CITY	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	002	2	5/31/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$46,695
2024	2024	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	ONE BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63110	SAINT LOUIS CITY	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	2	12/2/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$600,356
2024	2023	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	ONE BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63110	SAINT LOUIS CITY	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	12/1/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $647,051

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $708,686 )
2023	2023	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE	ONE BROOKINGS DR	SAINT LOUIS	MO	63130	SAINT LOUIS	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	7/1/2023	NEW	$708,686
														Subtotal = $708,686

Grand Total All Awards = $2,689,859

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Chronic Low Back Pain

Award Number: R01MD017565

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/10/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer