Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of Age on Pain Perception: Thermonociception
TLDR
Results indicate a significant but small tendency for older adults to underrate low and overrate higher intensity contact heat compared with younger adults, and similarities in pain perception were stronger than differences among the age groups.Abstract:
The effect of age on pain sensitivity is unclear. Some studies suggest a loss of pain perception with age, whereas other studies indicate either no change or an increase in pain sensitivity with age. The present study assessed perceived intensities of six levels of painful contact thermal stimuli (43 degrees C, 45 degrees C, 47 degrees C, 48 degrees C, 49 degrees C, and 51 degrees C). Magnitude estimation procedures were used, and participants were instructed to provide separate ratings for the perceived sensory intensity and the perceived unpleasantness (affective intensity) of the thermal stimuli during separate sessions. Middle-age adults showed the lowest sensory sensitivity and greatest affective pain ratings. Although results indicate a significant but small tendency for older adults to underrate low and overrate higher intensity contact heat compared with younger adults, similarities in pain perception were stronger than differences among the age groups.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Age-related differences in pain perception and report
TL;DR: The clinical and laboratory-based evidence for age-related differences in pain perception and report are reviewed in this article, where the authors suggest a relative decrease in the frequency and intensity of pain symptoms associated with myocardial complaints, visceral infections, musculoskeletal conditions, and postoperative and malignant pain problems in adults of advanced age.
Journal ArticleDOI
A review of age differences in the neurophysiology of nociception and the perceptual experience of pain.
TL;DR: To better understand the nature of age differences in pain and nociception with the aging of the worlds’ population, a small, but demonstrable age-related impairment in the early warning functions of pain is suggested.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Psychophysical Comparison of Sensory and Affective Responses to Four Modalities of Experimental Pain
TL;DR: It is observed that, relative to the perceived intensity of the individual stimuli, subjects consistently differentiate among the degrees of unpleasantness evoked by the four stimulus modalities, and contact heat stimuli may be ideally suited for assessing sensory-discriminative aspects of pain perception.
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Ethnic differences in thermal pain responses.
TL;DR: Findings seem to suggest ethnic differences in the perception of the affective-motivational dimension of thermal pain in a healthy undergraduate population of African Americans.
Journal ArticleDOI
Comparison of verbal and visual analogue scales for measuring the intensity and unpleasantness of experimental pain
TL;DR: Results confirm that both visual analogue and verbal descriptor techniques successfully quantify sensory intensity and affective aspects of pain, but that verbal descriptors may provide the more sensitive tool for separating intensity and unpleasantness.