scholarly journals The Relationship between Acculturation and Experimental Pain Sensitivity in Asian Americans with Knee Osteoarthritis

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyochol Ahn ◽  
Setor K. Sorkpor ◽  
Miyong Kim ◽  
Hongyu Miao ◽  
Chengxue Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Pressure Pain Threshold ◽  
Experimental Pain ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Experimental Pain Sensitivity ◽  
The Relationship

Multiple studies in healthy populations and clinical samples have shown that ethnic minorities have greater pain sensitivity than their majority counterparts. Acculturation is speculated to be one of the sociocultural factors contributing to pain sensitivity since cultural beliefs and practices can influence the way patients perceive and respond to pain. However, the relationship of acculturation to pain sensitivity in minority populations remains poorly understood. Therefore, in this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between acculturation and experimental pain sensitivity in 50 Asian Americans residing in North Central Florida with knee osteoarthritis pain. The Suinn-Lew Asian Self Identity Acculturation Scale was used to assess acculturation, and multimodal quantitative sensory testing was performed to measure experimental sensitivity, including heat pain tolerance, pressure pain threshold, and punctate mechanical pain. Descriptive and regression analyses were performed. Participants’ mean age was 55.7 years, and about half of this sample were Korean American (56%). The participants had lived in the United States for 21 years on average. Regression analyses indicated that lower acculturation to American culture may contribute to greater experimental pain sensitivity. Asian Americans who were more acculturated to the American culture had higher heat pain tolerance (beta = 0.61, P=0.01), higher pressure pain threshold (beta = 0.59, P=0.02), and lower ratings of punctate mechanical pain (beta = −0.70, P<0.01). These findings add to the literature regarding sociocultural factors associated with pain in Asian Americans; additional research with a larger and more diverse sample of Asian Americans is warranted for cross-validation.

scholarly journals HOME-BASED TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT-CURRENT STIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL PAIN SENSITIVITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S338-S338
Author(s):  
Hyochol Ahn ◽  
Chengxue Zhong ◽  
Setor Sorkpor ◽  
Hongyu Miao
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Pressure Pain Threshold ◽  
Experimental Pain ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Heat Pain ◽  
Knee Oa ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Experimental Pain Sensitivity

Abstract Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the most common causes of pain in older adults. Clinic-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has been shown to reduce pain, but no published studies have reported using home-based self-administered tDCS in older adults with knee OA. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of home-based tDCS on experimental pain sensitivity in older adults with knee OA. Twenty community-dwelling participants aged 50–85 years with knee OA pain received ten daily sessions of 2 mA tDCS for 20 minutes at home. A multimodal quantitative sensory testing battery was completed, including heat pain tolerance, pressure pain threshold, and punctate mechanical pain. Participants (75% female) had a mean age of 61 years, and a mean body mass index in the sample was 28.33 kg/m2. All 20 participants completed all ten home-based tDCS sessions without serious adverse effects. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed that all the differences between the baseline measurements and experimental pain sensitivity measurements after 10 sessions were statistically significant. Effect sizes (Rosenthal’s R) were R = 0.35 for heat pain tolerance (P = 0.02), R = 0.40 for pressure pain threshold (P &lt; 0.01), and R = 0.32 for punctate mechanical pain (P = 0.02). We demonstrated that home-based self-administered tDCS was feasible and reduced experimental pain sensitivity in older adults with knee OA. Future studies with well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to validate our findings.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between β-Endorphin and Experimental Pain Sensitivity in Older Adults With Knee Osteoarthritis

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyochol Ahn ◽  
Jun-Ho La ◽  
Jin M. Chung ◽  
Hongyu Miao ◽  
Chengxue Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Pressure Pain Threshold ◽  
Experimental Pain ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Knee Oa ◽  
Experimental Pain Sensitivity ◽  
The Relationship

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of pain in people aged >45 years, and the knee is the most commonly affected joint. There is a growing interest in understanding the biological factors that influence pain among older adults, but few studies have examined the relationship between β-endorphin and experimental pain sensitivity in older adults with knee OA pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between resting plasma levels of β-endorphin and experimental pain sensitivity. This study was a secondary analysis of data for 40 adults with knee OA pain in whom quantitative sensory testing was used to measure experimental sensitivity to heat- and mechanically induced pain. The mean age of the sample was 60 years ( SD = 9 years), and approximately half were female (53%). Regression analyses indicated that β-endorphin level was negatively related to pressure pain threshold (β = −17.18, p = .02) and positively related to punctate mechanical pain (β = 17.13, p = .04), after controlling for age, gender, and OA severity. We did not find a significant relationship between β-endorphin and heat pain tolerance. The results suggest that higher circulating levels of β-endorphin at rest are associated with increased sensitivity to mechanical pain in older adults with knee OA. These findings add to the literature regarding biological factors associated with pain sensitivity in older adults with chronic pain. Additional studies are needed to identify mediators of the relationship between β-endorphin and pain sensitivity in OA and other musculoskeletal pain conditions.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Response to Experimental Pain among Medical Students from a Western State of India

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Pratik Akhani ◽  
Samir Mendpara ◽  
Bhupendra Palan
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Experimental Pain ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Pain Rating ◽  
Western State

Background: Pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to seek medical attention and it causes considerable human suffering. Pain is a complex perception that differs enormously among individual patients. Gender plays an important role in how pain is experienced, coped with and treated. Even young healthy individuals often differ in how they perceive and cope with pain. This study was done to investigate gender differences in response to experimental pain among medical students from a western state in India. Methods: A total of 150 medical students (86 males and 64 females) participated in this interventional study. The Cold Pressor Test was used to exert experimental pain. To study the response, cardiovascular measures (radial pulse, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) and pain sensitivity parameters (pain threshold, pain tolerance and pain rating) were assessed. Results: No significant difference was found in cardiovascular response to experimental pain between both the genders (p>0.05). Pain threshold and pain tolerance were found to be significantly higher in males whereas pain rating was found to be significantly higher in females (p<0.01). Pulse reactivity showed a negative relationship with pain threshold and pain tolerance whereas a positive relationship with pain rating, however no statistically significant relation was found between these measures. Conclusion: Females display greater pain sensitivity than males. Different pain perception might account for gender difference in pulse reactivity.

Cardiovascular responses to and modulation of pressure pain sensitivity in normotensive, pain-free women

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Mohn ◽  
Olav Vassend ◽  
Stein Knardahl
Keyword(s):  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Pressure Pain Threshold ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Pressure Pain ◽  
Pain Stimulation ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Free Women ◽  
Analogue Scales

AbstractBackground and purposeThe psychophysiological responses to and modulation of pressure pain stimulation are relatively new areas of investigation. The aims of the present study were to characterize subjective and cardiovascular (CV) responses to pressure pain stimulation, and to examine the relationship between CV responding and pain pressure pain sensitivity.MethodsThirty-nine pain-free, normotensive women were included in the study and tested during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycles. Pain threshold and tolerance were recorded at the right masseter muscle and the sternum, and visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to rate both pain intensity (the sensory dimension) and discomfort (the affective dimension). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and facial and digital skin blood flux (SBF) were registered continuously.ResultsThe pain threshold and tolerance were significantly higher at the sternum compared with the masseter, but the level of affective distress was higher at the masseter tolerance point. No associations emerged between pressure pain threshold and tolerance stimulation levels, and the corresponding VAS ratings. Pressure pain stimulation of the masseter induced significant increases in MAP, HR, and a decrease in digital SBF. During sternum pressure stimulation a significant change in HR and digital SBF was observed. There were no significant correlations between CV responding and pressure pain sensitivity.ConclusionHealthy women seem to display higher pressure pain sensitivity at the masseter region relative to the sternum. Pressure pain stimulation was associated with significant changes in MAP, HR, and SBF, but was not modulated by CV responses. The validity of these findings is strengthened by our control for menstrual cycle events, weekend-related changes in physiology, and CV changes during pain stimulation.ImplicationsThis study extends previous reports of SBF sensitivity to electrocutaneous pain into the field of pressure stimulation. Moreover, this study suggests that the often demonstrated association between high BP and low pain sensitivity may not apply to pressure pain specifically. Alternatively, this finding adds to the literature of gender differences in the relationship between CV responding and acute pain sensitivity in general.

Experimental pain in dementia

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2131-2131
Author(s):  
S. Lautenbacher ◽  
M. Kunz
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Experimental Pain ◽  
Sympathetic Skin Response ◽  
Pain Processing ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Screening Battery ◽  
Skin Response ◽  
Experimental Pain Sensitivity ◽  
The Relationship

Two study lines will be presented. One is focussing on the changes in experimental pain responsiveness in patients with dementia compared to healthy elderly and individuals with MCI. Patients with dementia appeared as more pain responsive (lower RIII-reflex thresholds, more pain-related facial responses, no difference in ratings) whereas the results of the MCI group were indistinguishable from those of the health elderly. Only the sympathetic skin response was similarly smaller in patients with dementia and the MCI individuals. The clinical reports of less frequent pain and less requirements of analgesics in dementia were not corroborated by the present experimental data. In the second study line, neuropsychological correlates of experimental pain sensitivity (rating, RIII-reflex, facial responses) were investigated in patients with MCI and dementia. The scores of a screening battery for dementia (SIDAM) and a modified version of the TMT-A were used. Significant correlations were found but only for the R-III threshold. Especially the scale for executive functions helped to explain the R-III reflex thresholds, suggesting frontal contributions to changes in pain processing in dementia. Depression, who often impacts pain processing, did not mediate the relationship between experimental pain and neuropsychology.

scholarly journals An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Age and Sex/Gender on Pain Sensitivity in Healthy Human Participants

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanan El-Tumi ◽  
Mark I. Johnson ◽  
Osama A. Tashani
Keyword(s):  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Pressure Pain Threshold ◽  
Cold Pressor ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Heat Pain ◽  
Detection Thresholds ◽  
Pressure Pain ◽  
Heat Pain Threshold ◽  
Cold Pressor Pain

Background: Ageing is associated with alterations of the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and pain sensitivity responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in healthy adults. Methods: 56 unpaid volunteers (28 women) aged between 20 and 55 years were categorised according to age into one of seven possible groups. The following measurements were taken: thermal detection thresholds, heat pain threshold and tolerance using a TSA-II NeuroSensory Analyzer; pressure pain threshold using a handheld electronic pressure algometer; and cold pressor pain threshold, tolerance, intensity and unpleasantness. Results: There was a positive correlation between heat pain tolerance and age (r = 0.228, P = 0.046), but no statistically significant differences between age groups for cold or warm detection thresholds, or heat pain threshold or tolerance. Forward regression found increasing age to be a predictor of increased pressure pain threshold (B = 0.378, P = 0.002), and sex/gender to be a predictor of cold pressor pain tolerance, with women having lower tolerance than men (B = -0.332, P = 0.006). Conclusion: The findings of this experimental study provide further evidence that pressure pain threshold increases with age and that women have lower thresholds and tolerances to innocuous and noxious thermal stimuli. Significance: The findings demonstrate that variations in pain sensitivity response to experimental stimuli in adults vary according to stimulus modality, age and sex and gender.

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