Gender-dependent difference in the relationship between pain aspects and pain catastrophizing

Abstract

We examined the gender dependence of the relationships between sensory and affective pain and pain catastrophizing. Study participants were 170 people who were receiving treatment for chronic pain at a university pain clinic in Daegu, Republic of Korea. For men, higher levels of sensory pain were associated with greater pain catastrophizing at low and average levels of affective pain, but not at a high level of affective pain. For women, higher levels of affective pain were associated with greater pain catastrophizing, regardless of the degree of sensory pain. These results suggest that sensory pain, affective pain, and their combination may have gender-dependent effects on pain catastrophizing in people who are experiencing chronic pain. Most importantly, affective pain appears to play a major role in pain catastrophizing, regardless of gender and, for men, the role of sensory pain in pain catastrophizing requires consideration.

Temporal Relations Between Pain Catastrophizing and Adverse Health and Mental Health Outcomes Following Whiplash Injury

“…18,19 On the basis of previous research, age, sex, and pain duration were tested as potential covariates for the cross-lagged panel analysis. [33][34][35][36][37] In the present sample, only sex was significantly associated with pain catastrophizing and was therefore included as a covariate in the model.…”

“…Cross-lagged panel analyses allow for the estimation of the directional influence between variables over time, controlling for autoregressive and synchronous effects 18,19 . On the basis of previous research, age, sex, and pain duration were tested as potential covariates for the cross-lagged panel analysis 33–37 . In the present sample, only sex was significantly associated with pain catastrophizing and was therefore included as a covariate in the model.…”

The Moderator Role of Pain Duration in Relation between Pain Catastrophizing and Pain Intensity

“…Catastrophizing was found to be associated with pain behavior, health care use, hospital stay, and analgesic drug use. Several studies have reported that females experience more catastrophizing than males (15). Catastrophizing is correlated with increased pain experience and increases pain intensity up to 7% to 31% (16).…”