title: Reliability of the nociceptive flexor reflex (RIII) threshold and association with Pain threshold.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of the RIII reflex threshold and Pain threshold in three repeated trials using electrocutaneous stimuli. Each trial was separated by a mean of 4.3 +/- 2.9 days (between-trials) and included two repeated measurements (within-trial) of the RIII reflex threshold (RIII-T) and the Pain threshold (PT) separated by 20 min. The participants were 14 healthy males (mean age +/- SD, 23.5 +/- 5.3 years). There was a significant difference between the RIII-T and PT. The reliability of the RIII-T and PT shows a between-trials coefficient of variance (CV(SEM)) of 16.1 and 16.9%, respectively. The within-trial CV(SEM) for RIII-T and PT was 5.4 and 4.3%, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the RIII-T threshold and PT. The parallel association and correlation of the RIII-T with the PT suggests that the RIII-T is valid in experimental pain studies under standardised resting conditions.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Movement Studies, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia. pmicalos@csu.edu.au
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Micalos
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Drinkwater
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arendt-Nielsen
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Marino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology*