Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 8, 2026

A Quantitative Sensory Testing Paradigm to Obtain Measures of Pain Processing in Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Surgery
Published on: January 18, 2018
Pressure Pain Phenotypes in Women Before Breast Cancer Treatment
Grace A Kanzawa-Lee1, Steven E Harte1, Celia M Bridges1
1University of Michigan.
Objectives:
To explore associations between quantitative sensory testing (QST) and pretreatment pain, physical, and psychological characteristics in women with breast cancer.
Sample & Setting:
41 women with treatment-naive stage 0-III breast cancer at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor.
Methods & Variables:
Participants completed self-report surveys and QST within the month before breast surgery. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were measured bilaterally at each trapezius with a manual QST algometer. PPT values were split, yielding low, moderate, and high pain sensitivity subgroups. Subgroup self-reported characteristics were compared using Spearman's correlation, chi-square, and one-way analysis of variance.
Results:
Lower PPT (higher sensitivity) was associated with higher levels of pain interference and maladaptive pain cognitions. The high-sensitivity group reported higher pain severities, interference, and catastrophizing and lower belief in internal locus of pain control than the low-sensitivity group.
Implications For Nursing:
Individualized interventions for maladaptive pain cognitions before surgery may reduce pain sensitivity and the severity of chronic pain developed after surgery.
Related Concept Videos
Treatment Resistant Cancers
Pain
Vapor Pressure
Definition and Measurement of Pressure: Atmospheric Pressure, Barometer, and Manometer
Constant Pressure Calorimetry
Analgesia and Pain Management

