title: Gender related differences in pain in spinal cord injured individuals.
abstract: METHODS
  Out of a population of 456 patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI), 130 having pain were selected after matching, based on gender, age, American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment grade and level of lesion.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether gender differences with regard to pain perception and prevalence exist in a population of patients following spinal cord injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spinalis SCI Unit (out-patient clinic), Stockholm, Sweden.
  
  
  METHODS
  130 patients suffering from pain were assessed over a 12-month period in a yearly health control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SCI women had a higher prevalence of nociceptive pain than men and their use of analgesics was greater. However, no differences between the sexes could be seen regarding pain and localization, onset, distribution, factors affecting pain, number of painful body regions, pain descriptors, ratings of pain intensities or in pain and life satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that SCI men and women describe their pain very similarly. However, SCI women had a higher prevalence of nociceptive pain than men and their use of opiates and non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was greater.
authors.affiliation: Spinalis SCI Unit, Karolinska Hospital and Faculty of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Norrbrink Budh
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hultling
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Werhagen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ertzgaard
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lundeberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics