title: Pain levels of examined muscles and gender differences in pain during electromyography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the pain level of each muscle during an EMG study and also search for any association between the pain levels and gender.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and twenty-seven subjects (166 females and 111 males) participated in the present study. Numeric analogue scale (NAS) was obtained from the patients after needle EMG for each muscle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 1242 muscles were examined. The highest pain levels among examined muscles were found on Abductor Pollicis Brevis (APB) (5.8 ± 2.6), First Dorsal Interosseous (4.2 ± 2.6) and Vastus Lateralis (4.0 ± 2.6). NAS levels of the female patients (4.3 ± 2.7) were apparently higher than those of the male patients (2.8 ± 2.3) (p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  First Dorsal Interosseous muscle was found less painful than APB muscle for the patients. Our study displayed greater pain sensitivity among females compared with males during the needle EMG; however, the pain levels of examined muscles were not higher than moderate for both genders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Acıbadem University School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey. pinarya@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Pınar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yalınay Dikmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Acıbadem University School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ilgaz Aydınlar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Acıbadem University School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Geysu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karlıkaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D010147:Pain Measurement; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult