Correlations between Age, Pain Intensity, Disability, and Tactile Acuity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Abstract

Objective. Chronic low back pain is an overwhelming problem for a wide range of people and leads to tactile acuity deficits. We aimed to investigate the correlations among age, pain severity, disability, and tactile acuity in patients with chronic low back pain by using multiple tactile acuity tests. Methods. A total of 58 participants (36.40 ± 14.95 years) with chronic low back pain were recruited, and two-point discrimination, point-to-point test, and two-point estimation were performed on their painful low back areas. The correlations between age, pain intensity, disability, and tactile acuity were characterized with Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Subgroup analyses according to the median values of age, pain intensity, and disability were used to compare the intergroup difference in tactile acuity. Results. Results illustrated significant negative associations among age, pain intensity, disability, and tactile acuity. Subgroup analyses revealed that patients with below-the-median values of age, pain intensity, and disability had better performance in tactile acuity tests than those with above-the-median values. Conclusion. This study indicated that tactile acuity was negatively associated with age, pain intensity, and disability in young patients with chronic low back pain.

Tactile localization accuracy at the low back

“…Tactile function has been widely investigated in people with persistent pain (Kuttikat et al, 2018 ; Menten et al, 2022 ; Stanton et al, 2013 ; Trojan et al, 2019 ), including people with low back pain (Adamczyk et al, 2018a , b , 2019 ; Luomajoki & Moseley, 2011 ; Moseley, 2008 ; Spahr et al, 2017 ; Wand et al, 2010 ; Wand et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2020 , 2022 ). Largely, these studies suggest that persistent pain is characterised by a loss of sensory precision, most commonly through the observation of larger two-point discrimination thresholds in people in pain (Adamczyk et al, 2018a ; Luomajoki & Moseley, 2011 ; Moseley, 2008 ; Stanton et al, 2013 ; Wand et al, 2010 ).…”

Inter- and Intra-Examiner Reliability Study of Two-Point Discrimination Test (TPD) and Two-Point Estimation Task (TPE) in the Sacral Area of Pain-Free Individuals

“…After each measurement, present the value on the display to the assistant recording the results". Subsequently, the examiner set the caliper at a distance of 120 mm, which according to previous tests, perfectly corresponds with the sensation of two separate points [10,15]. The next step was to put the caliper on the tested person at the S3 level on one of the sides (drawn earlier), in such a way that the previously marked points (5 and 15 cm) were between the spaced caliper arms.…”

“…Such deficiencies can be diagnosed and quantitatively measured by performing relatively simple tests that are used to assess tactile acuity. Tactile acuity is most frequently measured by means of three different tests: a two-point discrimination test (TPD), a two-point estimation task (TPE), and a point-to-point test (PTP) [1,[12][13][14][15][16]. The TPD test is the most common for tactile acuity, and although it is difficult to perform, the PTP is slightly more reliable, but it is not possible to perform it on all parts of the body, whereas the TPE task is characterized by the highest reliability, but appears to be susceptible to the test learning effect [9,11,13,16].…”