title: Quantitative sensory testing (QST). English version.
abstract: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is a standardized and formalized clinical sensitivity test. Testing describes a subjective (psychophysical) method that entails a cooperation of the person to be examined. Within its framework, calibrated stimuli are applied to capture perception and pain thresholds, thus providing information on the presence of sensory plus or minus signs. The presented QST battery imitates natural thermal or mechanical stimuli. The aim is to acquire symptom patterns of sensory loss (for the functioning of the thick and thin nerve fibers) as well as a gain of function (hyperalgesia, allodynia, hyperpathia) with a simultaneous detection of cutaneous and deep tissue sensibility. Most of the tested QST parameters are normally distributed only after a logarithmic transformation (secondary normal distribution)-except the number of paradoxical heat sensations, of cold and heat pain thresholds, and vibration detection thresholds. A complete QST profile can be measured within 1 h. QST is suitable not only for clinical trials but also in practice as a diagnostic method to characterize the function of the somatosensory system-from the peripheral nerve fiber receptor to the projection pathways to the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. martin.muecke@ukb.uni-bonn.de.|Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. martin.muecke@ukb.uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mücke
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cuhls
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radbruch
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.affiliation: Department of Pain Medicine, Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tölle
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim (CBTM), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: R-D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Treede
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rolke
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia; D010146:Pain; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013697:Thermosensing
keywords: Pain profile; QST; Quantitative sensory testing; Sensitivity test; Somatosensory nervous system; Somatosensory phenotype; Z-score
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