Study Finds Significant Gaps in Epidural Education Among Ethnicities

Newswise — A study presented during the ASA Annual Meeting in October found that Hispanics and blacks requested epidural anesthesia later in labor than whites and also experienced greater pain relief than whites.

The study, led by Scott Stewart, M.D., and Latha Hebbar, M.D., F.R.C.A., of the Medical University of South Carolina, underscores the need for new tactics and better education in dealing with the labor needs of the United States' rapidly growing minority population.

"Twenty-five percent of Americans belong to an ethnically qualified minority group, and this number is expected to increase to 33 percent by the year 2025," said Dr. Hebbar.

Dr. Hebbar says that anesthesiologists should make it a priority to examine, evaluate and discuss labor analgesia options with all patients who are laboring as soon as they are admitted to the labor and delivery floor.

"Anesthesiologists have a pivotal role in the education process, which involves a team approach, including the obstetrician, labor and delivery nurses, midwives, language interpreters and educational media that is published in a wide variety of languages and made available at multiple points of care," said Dr. Hebbar.

According to Dr. Hebbar, Hispanics in particular should be seen earlier in labor not only for proper language interpretation (when applicable) but also to explain analgesia options to family members, who tend to play a pivotal role in education in this group.

Health care providers must also be cognizant of sometimes long-held fears or myths associated with labor epidurals.

"In the past, labor epidurals and spinal anesthetics have gained bad reputations and have been associated with unjustified misconceptions surrounding their potential side effects, the pain they might cause and potential to prolong labor," said Dr. Hebbar. "In recent years, more attention and research have been directed toward these interventions, and the majority of data dispels most of these misconceptions."

The key is to begin the education process early whenever possible.

"I hope that by educating these populations, patients will be better informed of their options and that they will have unnecessary anxiety alleviated on the day of their labor," said Dr. Hebbar. "Finally, it is imperative that research continues in this field in order to better serve the different laboring populations and to find new and better means of effective labor analgesia."

Anesthesiologists: Physicians providing the lifeline of modern medicine. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 43,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.

For more information visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists Web site at http://www.asahq.org.

Media Registration for the 2008 ASA Annual Meeting is now available at http://www2.asahq.org/web/miscfiles/08media.asp.