Influence of sex and anxiety on pain threshold and tolerance

The influence of sex and anxiety on experimental pain perception was studied in a homogeneous population of 50 volunteer and healthy dental students. Three threshold (minimum perceptible threshold, pain threshold and pain tolerance threshold) were determined by delivering electrical stimulations, at regular intervals, on the left hand finger pads. At the same time, the students were asked to complete the Cattell's anxiety test, so allowing their degree of anxiety to be quantified. Statistical analysis of the results showed a lower pain tolerance threshold in females than in males and a significant correlation between the anxiety score and the pain tolerance threshold. The fact that females are more anxious than males could explain these results.