title: Heat pain thresholds: normative data and repeatability.
abstract: Measurement of thresholds for heat-induced pain was performed on 106 normal subjects, at thenar eminence and foot dorsum, using the reaction time-inclusive method of limits. Tests were repeated 2 weeks following the first test for most of the subjects. After determination that there were no outlying data points and that there was no systematic relationship between magnitude and variability of test scores, data from between 72 and 76 subjects were used to define normal upper and lower ranges by age, as well as repeatability coefficients. This was done through ANOVA-based procedures that extend standard repeatability assessment methods. Normative data tables are presented, with measures of repeatability for the various sites and modalities. For the conventional test range, reaching 55 degrees C, measurement of heat pain thresholds can define both hyper- and hypoalgesia. Application of repeatability coefficients allows for intra-individual inter-session comparison in longitudinal studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yarnitsky
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sprecher
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zaslansky
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hemli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017288:Pain Threshold; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic