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Increased Pain Variability in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Role for Pain Catastrophizing
Mirinda M Whitaker1, Daniel Odell2, Pascal R Deboeck1
1Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Journal of Pain
|February 9, 2024
Summary
Chronic pain patients exhibit greater variability in pain ratings compared to controls. Pain catastrophizing significantly explains this difference, suggesting pain variability may be a clinical marker.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Pain Research
Background:
- Pain is a dynamic experience, yet intraindividual variability in pain ratings is often disregarded.
- Pain variability correlates with increased pain severity and depression.
- The relationship between pain variability and pain catastrophizing in chronic pain remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in pain variability between chronic pain patients and controls.
- To examine the role of pain catastrophizing in modulating pain variability.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 30 chronic pain patients and 22 pain-free controls.
- Utilized a 30-second thermal pain task with continuous pain rating.
- Quantified pain variability using intraindividual standard deviation (iSD) and a novel derivatives approach.
Main Results:
- Chronic pain patients demonstrated significantly higher pain variability than controls.
- Pain catastrophizing was found to significantly mediate the relationship between chronic pain and pain variability.
- Both iSD and derivatives metrics confirmed increased pain variability in chronic pain patients.
Conclusions:
- Chronic pain patients perceive experimental pain stimuli with greater temporal variability.
- Pain catastrophizing may underlie the heightened pain variability observed in chronic pain.
- Short-term pain variability shows potential as a clinical marker for pain assessment and treatment.
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