Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk IV: Smoking Cessation and Pain

Native Americans experience the highest rates of chronic pain of all U.S. racial/ethnic groups, and we have shown this disparity is partly explained by disrupted physiological pain regulation mechanisms, i.e., enhanced pain amplification and impaired pain inhibition. One unexplored variable that could disrupt these mechanisms in Native Americans is non-ceremonial tobacco smoking. Native Americans have the highest smoking rate in the U.S., and smoking is associated with disrupted pain regulation in non-Native American samples. Thus, there is a critical need to understand whether smoking contributes to NA pain risk. There is high comorbidity between smoking and chronic pain, but it is also known that chronic pain patients who quit smoking have improved pain. This study aims to better understand the relationship between Native American smoking and chronic pain risk. It is believed that smoking increases chronic pain risk in pain-free Native Americans by increasing pain amplification and impairing pain inhibition, and smoking abstinence will reduce pain amplification and increase pain inhibition.