Learning Curves Observed in Establishing Targeted Rate of Force Application in Pressure Pain Algometry

Area of Science:

• Pain research
• Clinical biomechanics
• Motor learning

Background:

• Accurate force application is crucial for reliable pressure pain threshold (PPT) testing.
• Deliberate practice is a common method for skill acquisition in healthcare.
• The ability of clinicians to achieve consistent force application rates during PPT testing is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if clinicians develop learning curves when practicing to apply a consistent 5 N/second force rate during PPT testing.
• To assess the impact of different feedback paradigms on force application consistency.
• To evaluate the efficacy of current training methods for PPT testing.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involving 17 clinician participants.
• Participants performed 36 trials of PPT targeted rate-of-application testing on healthy volunteers.
• Three distinct feedback paradigms were utilized during testing.
• Ramp rate performances were plotted and analyzed for learning curve trends.

Main Results:

• Clinician force application rates were inconsistent across all trials and feedback conditions.
• No discernible learning curves were observed in any participant over the 36 trials.
• The target force rate of 5 N/second proved challenging to maintain consistently.

Conclusions:

• Practicing clinicians face significant difficulty in consistently applying a 5 N/second force rate during PPT testing.
• The absence of learning curves indicates that current educational strategies for PPT may be insufficient.
• Revising training approaches is recommended to improve clinicians' proficiency in PPT testing.