Measurements of human pressure-pain thresholds on fingers and toes

TLDR

The pressure algometer allows easy control of pressure application rate. PPTs were measured on fingers and toes of 30 participants using a hand‑held electronic pressure algometer. Intra‑individual variability was 14 %, inter‑individual variability 28 % in females and 33 % in males; repeated measurements showed no change, males had PPTs 50 % higher than females, and dominant sides had slightly higher PPTs.

Abstract

Pressure-pain thresholds (PPT) were measured on fingers and toes with a hand-held electronic pressure algometer in 15 males and 15 females. The pressure algometer offered easy control of pressure application rate. The intra-individual coefficient of variation, based on repeated PPT measurements with a 1 week interval was 14%. The inter-individual coefficient of variation was 28% for females and 33% for males. In the course of 10 consecutive PPT measurements with short intervals (10 and 20 sec), no significant change in PPT was observed. PPT was found to be 50% higher in males than in females (P less than 0.0001). Slightly but significantly higher PPT values were found on the dominant compared to the non-dominant side (P less than 0.005).