Spatiotemporal patterns of pain distribution and recall accuracy: a dose-response study

Area of Science:

• Pain management and clinical decision-making.
• Digital health technologies for pain assessment.
• Experimental pain research.

Background:

• Clinical decisions often depend on patient pain recall, which can be inaccurate.
• Real-time pain monitoring (momentary pain) may improve accuracy and decision-making.
• Understanding temporal pain changes and recall accuracy is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure temporal changes in pain intensity, area, and location in a dose-response manner.
• To assess recall accuracy of peak pain intensity and distribution after seven days using a digital pain mapping application.
• To explore the influence of repeated pain drawings and psychological variables on pain recall.

Main Methods:

• 57 healthy participants received hypertonic saline injections (0.5 mL or 1.0 mL).
• Participants reported momentary pain intensity every 30 seconds; some also drew pain distribution on a digital body chart.
• Peak pain intensity, area, and distribution were compared between doses and over time; recall accuracy was assessed after seven days.

Main Results:

• Lower doses (0.5 mL) resulted in lower pain intensity, area, and duration over time compared to higher doses (1.0 mL).
• Peak pain intensity and area were similar between doses; pain area and distribution were similar between momentary and recall drawings.
• Peak pain intensity correlated with pain catastrophizing, but not with peak pain area.

Conclusions:

• Experimental acute low back pain shows dose-dependent spatiotemporal patterns in intensity and distribution.
• Pain distribution and area appear less susceptible to recall error in experimental settings compared to intensity.
• Higher momentary pain intensities do not seem to affect recall accuracy of pain intensity or distribution in healthy participants.