Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7175, United States.
Eur J Pain. 2011 Aug;15(7):764-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2010.11.016. Epub 2011 May 10.
This study examined differences between Asians and non-Hispanic Whites (Whites) in pain sensitivity, and its relationship to mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). In 30 Whites (50% female) and 30 Asians (50% female), experimental pain sensitivity was assessed with a hand cold pressor task, yielding measures of pain threshold, tolerance, intensity, and unpleasantness. Mean arterial pressure and HR measurements taken at rest and in response to speech stress were assessed. Perceived stress, anxiety, perfectionism, parental criticism, parental expectations and depressive symptoms were also measured. The results indicated that for the cold pain test, Asians demonstrated significantly lower pain threshold and tolerance levels than Whites. Although no ethnic differences were seen for MAP or HR responses to stress, for Whites higher stress MAP levels were correlated with reduced pain sensitivity, while for Asians higher baseline and stress HR levels were correlated with reduced pain sensitivity. Asians reported higher parental expectations and greater parental criticism than Whites. For Asians only, higher levels of perfectionism were related to more depressive symptoms, anxiety and perceived stress. These results indicate that Asian Americans are more sensitive to experimental pain than Whites and suggest ethnic differences in endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms (e.g. MAP and HR). The results may also have implications for understanding ethnic differences in clinical pain.
本研究考察了亚洲人与非西班牙裔白种人（白人）在疼痛敏感性方面的差异，以及其与平均动脉压（MAP）和心率（HR）的关系。在 30 名白人（女性占 50%）和 30 名亚洲人（女性占 50%）中，通过手部冷加压任务评估了实验性疼痛敏感性，得出了疼痛阈值、耐受度、强度和不适度的测量值。在休息和应对言语压力时测量平均动脉压和心率。还评估了感知压力、焦虑、完美主义、父母批评、父母期望和抑郁症状。结果表明，在冷痛测试中，亚洲人的疼痛阈值和耐受度明显低于白人。尽管 MAP 或 HR 对压力的反应没有种族差异，但对于白人来说，较高的应激 MAP 水平与疼痛敏感性降低相关，而对于亚洲人来说，较高的基线和应激 HR 水平与疼痛敏感性降低相关。亚洲人报告的父母期望和父母批评高于白人。对于亚洲人来说，较高的完美主义水平与更多的抑郁症状、焦虑和感知压力有关。这些结果表明，亚裔美国人对实验性疼痛比白人更敏感，并提示内源性疼痛调节机制（如 MAP 和 HR）存在种族差异。这些结果可能对理解临床疼痛中的种族差异也有一定意义。
