Sedentary behaviour facilitates conditioned pain modulation in middle-aged and older adults with persistent musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional investigation
Open Access
- 1 September 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Pain Reports
- Vol. 4 (5), e773
- https://doi.org/10.1097/pr9.0000000000000773
Abstract
Introduction: Higher physical activity (PA) and lower sedentary behaviour (SB) levels have demonstrated beneficial effects on temporal summation (TS) and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) in healthy adults. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationships between PA and SB and TS/CPM responses in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods: Sixty-seven middle-aged and older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain were recruited from the community. Questionnaires measuring demographics, pain, and psychological measures were completed. Physical activity/SB levels were measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—short form and Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire, respectively. Semmes monofilament was used to assess mechanical TS (MTS) at the most symptomatic (MTS-S) and a reference region (MTS-R); change in the pain scores (baseline-10th application) was used for analysis. Conditioned pain modulation procedure involved suprathreshold pressure pain threshold (PPT-pain4) administered before and after (CPM30sec, CPM60sec, and CPM90sec) conditioning stimulus (2 minutes; ∼12°C cold bath immersion). For analysis, PPT-pain4 (%) change scores were used. Results: PPT-pain4 (%) change scores at CPM30sec and CPM60sec demonstrated significant weak positive correlations with SB levels and weak negative correlations with PA measures. After adjusting for confounding variables, a significant positive association was found between SB (h/d) and PPT-pain4 (%) change scores at CPM30sec and CPM60sec. No significant associations between MTS and PA/SB measures. Conclusion: Sedentariness is associated with higher pain inhibitory capacity in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The observed relationship may be characteristic of a protective (sedentary) behaviour to enhance pain modulatory mechanism. Prospective longitudinal studies using objective PA/SB measures are required to validate the observed relationship in a larger sample size.This publication has 97 references indexed in Scilit:
- Age-Dependent Decline of Endogenous Pain Control: Exploring the Effect of Expectation and DepressionPLOS ONE, 2013
- Longitudinal Associations between Exercise and Pain in the General Population - The HUNT Pain StudyPLOS ONE, 2013
- Abnormal endogenous pain modulation is a shared characteristic of many chronic pain conditionsExpert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2012
- Testing the relation between dispositional optimism and conditioned pain modulation: does ethnicity matter?Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2012
- The Development and Psychometric Validation of the Central Sensitization InventoryPain Practice, 2011
- Peripheral pain mechanisms in chronic widespread painBest Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 2011
- Central sensitization: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of painPain, 2011
- Pain catastrophizing: a critical reviewExpert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2009
- Temporal Summation of Second Pain and Its Maintenance Are Useful for Characterizing Widespread Central Sensitization of Fibromyalgia PatientsThe Journal of Pain, 2007
- International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and New Zealand Physical Activity Questionnaire (NZPAQ): A doubly labelled water validationInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2007