The following is a summary of “Increased pain variability in patients with chronic pain: A role for pain catastrophizing,” published in the February 2024 issue of Pain by Whitaker et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to untangle the complexities of pain variability in chronic pain patients compared to healthy individuals during acute pain episodes, additionally exploring the potential influence of pain catastrophizing.
They involved chronic pain patients (N=30) and pain-free controls (N=22). Participants completed a 30-second thermal pain task, continuously rating a painful thermal stimulus. A conventional within-individual standard deviation (iSD) metric and a new derivatives approach were utilized to quantify pain variability and capture potential dynamics.
The results showed that for both metrics, patients with chronic pain exhibited increased variability in their pain ratings over time, with pain catastrophizing significantly mediating relationships.
Investigators concluded that chronic pain patients exhibited temporal variability in their pain response to stimuli, potentially due to the influence of pain catastrophizing.
Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(24)00375-4/fulltext
