Effect of Age on Response to Experimental Pain in Normal Indian Males

Response to experimental pain depends on the nature of the pain stimulus, as well as on gender, racial, cultural and socioeconomic factors. This study investigates the effect of age on pain sensitivity and cardiovascular reactivity produced by experimental pain. We have also compared the values of body mass index (BMI) and resting blood pressure of volunteers with the normal values.

The study was conducted on 83 Indian males of different age groups. The volunteers were divided into 4 groups: Children, Young Adults, Middle-Aged Adults and Old Adults; and their basal parameters (BMI, resting pulse and blood pressure) were recorded. Selected volunteers were subjected to cold pressor task (CPT). Pain sensitivity (PS) (pain threshold, tolerance and pain rating on a visual analog scale) and cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) (increase in pulse and blood pressure) were recorded.

Many volunteers had abnormal values of BMI and resting blood pressure and had to be excluded from the study. PS and CVR between different groups were compared by one-way ANOVA. Significant differences in PS were observed, with highest pain sensitivity in Children and lowest in Old Adults. No significant differences were observed in the CVR.

The high numbers of volunteers with abnormal basal parameters (BMI and resting blood pressure) show an urgent need to educate the general public about the dangers and risk factors of obesity and hypertension. Less exposure of children to painful encounters may be responsible for their high pain sensitivity while higher values of resting blood pressure and decreased sensitivity of the sensory systems with advancing age may be responsible for the hypoalgesia observed in old adults.