title: Cuff Pressure Pain Detection Is Associated with Both Sex and Physical Activity Level in Nonathletic Healthy Subjects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate pressure pain sensitivity on leg and arm in 98 healthy persons (50 women) using cuff algometry. Furthermore, associations with sex and physical activity level were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Normal physical activity level was defined as Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) score ≤ 45 and high activity level as GLTEQ > 45. A pneumatic double-chamber cuff was placed around the arm or leg where a single chamber was inflated. The cuff inflation rate (1 kPa/s) was constant, and pain intensity was registered continuously on a 10 cm electronic visual analogue scale (VAS). The pain detection threshold (PDT) was defined as when the pressure was perceived as painful, and pain tolerance (PTT) was when the subject terminated the cuff inflation. For PTT, the corresponding VAS score was recorded (VAS-PTT). The protocol was repeated with two chambers inflated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only single cuff results are given. For women compared with men, the PDT was lower when assessed in the arm ( P = 0.002), PTTs were lower in the arm and leg ( P < 0.001), and the VAS-PTT was higher in the arm and leg ( P < 0.033). Highly active participants compared with less active had higher PDT ( P = 0.027) in the leg. Women showed facilitated spatial summation ( P < 0.014) in the arm and leg and a steeper VAS slope (i.e., the slope of the VAS pressure curve between PDT and PPT) in the arm and leg ( P < 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that reduced pressure pain sensitivity is associated both with male sex and physical activity level.
authors.affiliation: Pain and Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lemming
authors.affiliation: Pain and Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Börsbo
authors.affiliation: Pain and Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjörs
authors.affiliation: Pain and Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva-Britt
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lind
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Experimental Pain Research.|Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain, Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arendt-Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain, Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Graven-Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Pain and Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerdle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011312:Pressure; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Cuff Pressure Sensitivity; Experimental Pain; Gender; Pain Assessment; Physical Activity; Sex