title: The effect of pressure pain sensitivity and patient factors on self-reported pain-disability in patients with chronic neck pain.
abstract: The study was conducted to estimate the extent to which pressure pain sensitivity (PPS) and patient factors predict pain-related disability in patients with neck pain (NP), and to determine if PPS differs by gender. Forty-four participants with a moderate level of chronic NP were recruited for this cross sectional study. All participants were asked to complete self-reported assessments of pain, disability and comorbidity and then underwent PPS testing at 4-selected body locations. Pearson`s r w was computed to explore relationships between the PPS measures and the self-reported assessments. Regression models were built to identify predictors of pain and disability. An independent sample t-test was done to identify gender-related differences in PPS, pain-disability and comorbidity. In this study, greater PPS (threshold and tolerance) was significantly correlated to lower pain-disability (r = -.30 to -.53, p≤0.05). Age was not correlated with pain or disability but comorbidity was (r= 0.42-.43, p≤0.01). PPS at the 4-selected body locations was able to explain neck disability (R(2)=25-28%). Comorbidity was the strongest predictor of neck disability (R(2) =30%) and pain (R(2)=25%). Significant mean differences for gender were found in PPS, disability and comorbidity, but not in pain intensity or rating. This study suggests that PPS may play a role in outcome measures of pain and disability but between-subject comparisons should consider gender and comorbidity issues.
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Department of Rehabilitation Science, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, Dhaka, Bangladesh ; Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health and Welfare, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Zakir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Clinical Research Lab, Hand and Upper Limb Centre, St. Joseph's Health Centre, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: MacDermid
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Woodhouse
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Research Division, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Triano
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Galea
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Anita R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gross
keywords: Comorbidity; gender; neck disability; neck pain sensitivity; pain threshold; pain tolerance.