Teaching Center and Department of Emergency Medicine: research to avoid ’immigration bias’ in pain management

, Vulnerable groups, such as immigrants, face particular challenges in the health care system. Stereotypes, such as the insinuation of exaggerated pain expression, can have a significant impact on the care of these patients. A joint study by the MedUni Vienna Teaching Center and the Department of Emergency Medicine at MedUni Vienna has now been able to show: MedUni Vienna students who were confronted with migrant and non-migrant patients presented in the course Medical Conversation Management treated both groups adequately according to the pain intensity indicated by the patients. The results of the study were published in the international journal European Journal of Emergency Medicine. However, differences were found in the details of the initial selection of pain therapy. The researchers were also able to show a gender effect: While female and male patients were treated in the same way, female students classified the patients' pain higher and "administered" pain medication more frequently, regardless of the patients' gender. Students who themselves come from immigrant families showed the same results as those with Austrian roots.