Sensitivity to Pain in Relationship to Age*

Sherman, Forrest; Robillard, E

doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1964.tb00652.x

Cited by 53 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This is true for both sexes, and for White, Black and Oriental people. This finding is contradictory to all previous studies (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) except one (24).…”

Section: Group Differences In Pain Tolerancecontrasting

confidence: 84%

Pain Tolerance: Differences According to Age, Sex and Race

Woodrow

Friedman

Siegelaub

et al. 1972

Psychosomatic Medicine

396

151

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The nature and extent of group differences in pain tolerance according to age, sex and race were examined. The method of pain tolerance determination was mechanical pressure on the Achilles tendon, performed on 4 1 , 119 subjects as part of the Kaiser-Permanente Automated Multiphasic Screening examination. The results showed that, on the average, a) pain tolerance decreases with age; b) men tolerate more pain than women; and c) Whites tolerate more pain than Orientals, while Blacks occupy an intermediate position. When the results of this study are compared with earlier work, it appears that, with increasing age, tolerance to cutaneous pain increases and tolerance to deep pain decreases.Differences in patients' pain tolerance have been a continuing source of interest and concern to their physicians. Some individuals appear to bear severe pain with surprising equanimity, while others react to more moderate pain with apprehension and emotional turmoil.A test of pain tolerance was included in the routine multiphasic health examination of more than 40,000 subjects in the hope that the findings would be clinically useful. While the clinical value has yet to be demonstrated, rather clear-cut differences in pain tolerance according to age, sex and race were noted. These differences may reflect important cultural and biologic variability in pain reaction.

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“…This is true for both sexes, and for White, Black and Oriental people. This finding is contradictory to all previous studies (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) except one (24).…”

Section: Group Differences In Pain Tolerancecontrasting

confidence: 84%

Pain Tolerance: Differences According to Age, Sex and Race

Woodrow

Friedman

Siegelaub

et al. 1972

Psychosomatic Medicine

396

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The differential sensory experiences of men and women may be partly influenced by hormonal or other biological variabilities [29]. Nevertheless, the literature suggesting that women have an increased sensitivity to pain is sparse and suggests that gender is only a weak predictor of the intensity of postoperative pain [7,29,33]. Interestingly, reported pain scores did not differ between men and women in our study and in a previous study of pain management after cardiac surgery we could not find any difference in reported pain scores or morphine consumption between men and women [34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postoperative ‘minor’ complications

1997

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SummaryWe compared the incidence of postoperative complications in women (vs. men) in 4173 patients. Overall, women were almost twice as likely to report any postoperative complication (RR = 1.92, p < 0.0005). Specifically, they were 2.6 times more likely to report nausea and vomiting (p < 0.0005), 1.5 times more likely to report sore throat (p = 0.0001), 2.3 times more likely to report headache (p < 0.0005) and 2.4 times more likely to report backache (p = 0.0036). Whether these gender differences are due to a reporting bias, or whether in fact women are at greater risk of such complications, remains to be determined.

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“…A greater effect of drugs in older age groups has been reported [1]. Using the radiant-heat tech nique, investigators observed that patients younger than 20 years of age had the greatest degree of hypersensitivity to pain, and that pain sensitivity decreased with age as mani fested by increased pain threshold in the older age group [16]. In 712 post-operative patients, Bellville et al [2] demonstrated that morphine or pentazocine produced more pain relief in older patients than in younger ones, and suggested that the doses of analgesics should be adjusted in accordance with age.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Analgesic and Thermic Responses to Intravenously Administered Morphine in 8- and 24-Week-Old Rats

Bhargava

Villar

1991

Pharmacology

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The analgesic and thermic responses to morphine (5 and 10 mg/kg) injected intravenously to 8- and 24-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were determined. Greater analgesic and lower hyperthermic responses to morphine in 24-week-old rats in comparison to 8-week-old rats were observed. The pharmacokinetic parameters of morphine administered intravenously were also determined. C_max for 5 and 10 mg/kg doses of morphine were smaller in 24-week-old rats in comparison to 8-week-old rats; however, AUC_0→_∞ was smaller only for 5 mg/kg dose. For 10 mg/kg dose, mean residence time (MRT) and the apparent steady state volume of distribution (V_ss) for the older rats were higher than for the younger ones, but for 5 mg/kg dose the values did not differ. The enhanced responses to morphine in older age group of rats for 5 mg/kg dose cannot be explained solely on the basis of pharmacokinetics. However, for 10 mg/kg dose of morphine, the greater responses in 24-week-old rats could probably be related to increases in MRT and V_ss. Factors other than serum kinetics, like kinetics of morphine in the brain as well as the brain opiate receptors, may also be involved in the differential effects of morphine in rats of different ages.

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Sensitivity to Pain in Relationship to Age*

Cited by 53 publications

References 15 publications

Pain Tolerance: Differences According to Age, Sex and Race

Pain Tolerance: Differences According to Age, Sex and Race

Postoperative ‘minor’ complications

Analgesic and Thermic Responses to Intravenously Administered Morphine in 8- and 24-Week-Old Rats

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