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Influence of sex and anxiety on pain threshold and tolerance.
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1987
Year
Pain TherapyPain Tolerance ThresholdPain DisordersPain MedicineDyspareuniaHealthy Dental StudentsPsychologyPain SyndromePain ManagementHealth SciencesPsychiatrySexual DysfunctionPain ThresholdSex DifferenceHomogeneous PopulationPain ResearchPain MechanismMedicinePsychopathology
The study examined how sex and anxiety influence experimental pain perception in 50 healthy dental students. Pain thresholds were measured by electrical stimulation of the left hand finger pads while anxiety was quantified using Cattell's test. Females showed lower pain tolerance thresholds than males, and higher anxiety scores were associated with lower tolerance, suggesting anxiety partly explains the sex difference.
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.