The following is a summary of “Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) Paradigms: Reliability and Relationship With Individual Characteristics,” published in the December 2024 issue of Pain by Gil-Ugidos et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the influence of varying Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) protocols, demographic factors, and psychological characteristics on the functionality of endogenous pain modulation in clinical populations.
They tested the sensitivity and reliability of 4 widely used CPM paradigms in 58 healthy participants. The relationship between these measures and Temporal Summation of Second Pain (TSSP), sociodemographic factors (age and sex), and psychological variables (anxiety and stress) was also examined.
The results showed that CPM outcomes were influenced by the test stimulus used. Pain pressure threshold (PPT) tests identified over 65% of responders and had the highest sensitivity (Cohen’s d > 0.5). All measures demonstrated excellent intrasession reliability with strong agreement in CPM magnitudes and CPM indices were not correlated with TSSP, age, or sex, and psychological scales did not distinguish between CPM responders and non-responders.
Investigators concluded the CPM indices exhibited reliable measurements, and the establishment of a comprehensive database of standardized CPM values in healthy individuals was crucial for the effective clinical application of this technique.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S152490422400314X
