Barbero, Marco and Falla, Deborah and Agnelotti, Matteo and Trenta, Davide and Gallace, Alberto and Cescon, Corrado and Corbetta, Davide (2022) The precision of people with chronic low back pain in locating nociceptive stimuli on a body chart. In: ISEK 2022 Congress - XXIV Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, June 22 -25, 2022, Quebec City, Canada.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Pain drawings are frequently used to assess the somatic distribution of pain. Previous studies have confirmed that people with chronic pain can reliably report both the extent and location of their painful symptoms. However, the conscious sense of body and proprioception can be impaired in people with chronic pain, potentially affecting the validity of their pain drawings. Investigations that assess the precision of people with chronic pain in locating painful symptoms on body charts (BC) are needed. This study aimed to evaluate how precisely people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) can indicate the location of nociceptive stimuli applied over their back on a BC compared to asymptomatic people. Moreover, the precision in locating nociceptive stimuli was assessed in relation to the clinical features of CLBP. METHODS: Thirty-one people with CLBP and 36 healthy volunteers participated. A grid of 4 rows and 5 columns was drawn over the participants' lumbar region. Six circular electrodes connected to an electrical stimulator were applied at points on the grid: one on the cross between column three and row four and five in the remaining crosses by means of a stratified randomization procedure. Additionally, six electrodes disconnected from the electrical stimulator were distributed over the remaining crosses. Eight painful electrocutaneous stimuli were randomly delivered to each connected electrode. After each stimulation, participants were asked to indicate on a BC, presented on a tablet, where they perceived the stimulus. Then, the BC was centred on a canvas 768x1024 pixel (px), and the identified locations of painful stimuli were defined by X and Y coordinates. For each stimulated electrode the barycentre was computed for the eight locations reported on the BC. The precision in reporting the location of painful stimulation was described using three variables: the standard deviation of the X coordinates (X-sd), the standard deviation of the Y coordinates (Y-sd) and the mean distance from the barycentre (DD-m). The precision in locating the nociceptive stimuli was compared between the two groups using Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to assess whether the precision in locating the nociceptive stimuli was related to the clinical features of CLBP including perceived pain, disability, kinesiophobia and central sensitization. RESULTS: In participants with CLBP, the mean(sd) X-sd was 11.2(5.6) px, the mean(sd) Y-sd was 20.9(9.7) px and the mean(sd) DD-m was 20.7(9.3) px. In healthy volunteers, the mean(sd) X-sd was 10.5(3.8) px, the mean(sd) Y-sd was 20.5(6.2) px and the mean(sd) DD-m was 18.5(6.3) px. No significant group difference was found in reporting the painful stimuli. In people with CLBP, DD-m showed a significant moderate correlation with central sensitization (r=0.54, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: People with CLBP and healthy people showed the same precision in reporting the painful stimuli on a BC. Overall, the precision in locating the delivered nociceptive stimulations was 2-5 mm. In people with CLBP, the precision in locating the painful stimuli can be impaired by central sensitization.
| Item Type: | Article in conference proceedings or Presentation at a conference (Poster) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Engineering > General engineering > Bioengineering, biomedical engineering & clinical engineering |
| Department/unit: | Dipartimento economia aziendale, sanità e sociale > Laboratorio di ricerca in riabilitazione |
| Depositing User: | Corrado Cescon |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Feb 2024 06:37 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2024 06:40 |
| URI: | http://repository.supsi.ch/id/eprint/14967 |
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