Abstract
Background: Ageing is associated with alterations of the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and pain sensitivity responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in healthy adults. Methods: 56 unpaid volunteers (28 women) aged between 20 and 55 years were categorised according to age into one of seven possible groups. The following measurements were taken: thermal detection thresholds, heat pain threshold and tolerance using a TSA-II NeuroSensory Analyzer; pressure pain threshold using a handheld electronic pressure algometer; and cold pressor pain threshold, tolerance, intensity and unpleasantness. Results: There was a positive correlation between heat pain tolerance and age (r = 0.228, P = 0.046), but no statistically significant differences between age groups for cold or warm detection thresholds, or heat pain threshold or tolerance. Forward regression found increasing age to be a predictor of increased pressure pain threshold (B = 0.378, P = 0.002), and sex/gender to be a predictor of cold pressor pain tolerance, with women having lower tolerance than men (B = -0.332, P = 0.006). Conclusion: The findings of this experimental study provide further evidence that pressure pain threshold increases with age and that women have lower thresholds and tolerances to innocuous and noxious thermal stimuli. Significance: The findings demonstrate that variations in pain sensitivity response to experimental stimuli in adults vary according to stimulus modality, age and sex and gender.
Highlights
Ageing is associated with alterations in the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception in older and younger adults
This study found that sensitivity to noxious blunt pressure stimuli decreased with increasing age in healthy individuals between 20 and 55 years of age, with 14% of the variation in pressure pain threshold measurements explained by variations in age
This study found that healthy individuals with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) were less sensitive to noxious heat but there were no statistically significant relationships between BMI and cold pressor pain
Summary
Ageing is associated with alterations in the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception in older and younger adults. Reviews conducted over a decade ago suggested that sensitivity to noxious stimuli (i.e. pain sensitivity response) decreased in old age [2 - 4]. In 2017, we published a systematic review that found statistically significant differences in pain perception evoked by noxious stimuli between old and younger adults in seven of nine studies, but the direction of change was inconsistent [5]. Ageing is associated with alterations of the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and pain sensitivity responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in healthy adults
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