Symptom severity is associated with signs of central sensitization in patients with asthma.

Abstract

Asthma is characterized by recurrent episodes of wheezing, dyspnoea, chest tightness and cough. In addition to respiratory symptoms, previous studies have reported the presence of pain. To analyse the nociceptive processing of young adults with well-controlled asthma. A cross-sectional case-control study was performed. Patients diagnosed with persistent well-controlled asthma were recruited from the 'Complejo Hospitalario Universitario' (Granada). Main outcomes included pain processing, measured by the pressure-pain thresholds (PPTs) and temporal summation and latency of pain; symptoms, including cough (Leicester Cough Questionnaire) and dyspnoea (Borg scale); and catastrophic cognitions about breathlessness, assessed by the Breathlessness Catastrophizing Scale (BCS). Seven-two participants were finally recruited in our study. Patients with asthma presented lower pressure thresholds (p < 0.05) and significant differences in latency and summation tests. These patients also presented a greater cough level, with significant differences in all subscales (p < 0.05). Significant differences were also found in the BCS between groups (p < 0.001). Our results show a decrease of PPTs and a greater pain intensity in latency and summation tests, suggesting an abnormal pain processing in patients with asthma.