ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Pain tolerance in upper limb disorders: findings from a community survey

S Mitchell, I Reading, K Walker-Bone, K Palmer, C Cooper, D Coggon

MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor David Coggon, MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK;
dnc{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk

Aims: To test the hypothesis that non-specific upper limb pain arises from altered pain perception with reduced tolerance of sensory stimuli.

Methods: Subjects undergoing clinical examination as part of a community based survey of upper limb disorders were invited to return for an assessment of pain tolerance. A standardised algorithm was used to classify the 94 participants according to whether they had specific upper limb disorders (n = 22), non-specific arm pain (n = 15), or no arm pain (n = 57). Pain tolerance was assessed at three anatomical sites in each arm in response to electrocutaneous stimulation with alternating currents up to a maximum of 10 mA at three frequencies (5, 250, and 2000 Hz). A proportional odds model was used to compare pain tolerance thresholds according to sex, age, and diagnosis.

Results: Women were less tolerant of pain than men (OR 0.13) and tolerance also declined with age (OR for one year increase in age 0.97). After allowance for sex and age, there was no indication that pain tolerance was lower in subjects with non-specific arm pain than in those with specific upper limb disorders or those who had no arm pain.

Conclusions: The study hypothesis was not supported. However, before the hypothesis is dismissed, it should be tested further in patients with more severe and disabling arm pain.

Keywords: pain; upper limb

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ryall, C., Coggon, D., Peveler, R., Reading, I., Palmer, K. T (2007). Pain tolerance in patients presenting to primary care and physiotherapy services with upper limb disorders. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 349-351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Miranda, H., Viikari-Juntura, E., Heistaro, S., Heliovaara, M., Riihimaki, H. (2005). A Population Study on Differences in the Determinants of a Specific Shoulder Disorder versus Nonspecific Shoulder Pain without Clinical Findings. Am J Epidemiol 161: 847-855 [Abstract] [Full Text]