McDougall Jessica F, Bailey Nicole G N, Banga Rohan, Linde Lukas D, Kramer John L K
International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021 Dec 23;2:729860. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2021.729860. eCollection 2021.
The influence of examiner gender on pain reporting has been previously explored in both research and clinical settings. However, previous investigations have been limited, with the majority of studies employing single, static assessments of pain (e.g., cold pressor test, verbal pain ratings). The impact of examiner gender on both static and dynamic heat-based pain assessments is currently unknown. Thirty eight participants (20 females aged 24.1 ± 4.44, and 18 males, aged 24.8 ± 4.54) completed two identical testing sessions, randomized to a male and female examiner in a cross-over design. Pain sensitivity was examined using heat pain thresholds, verbal pain ratings to tonic heat, computerized visual analog scale (CoVAS) rating to tonic heat, and participant-controlled temperature (PCT) heat pain assessments. Female participants reported higher verbal pain to tonic heat with a female examiner compared to male participants, with similar trends for CoVAS responses to tonic heat. Conversely heat pain thresholds and PCT were not significantly influenced by experimenter gender. Overall, verbal ratings were the most impacted by examiner gender, with temperature-based methods such as PCT and pain thresholds showing little to no examiner gender effects. While the gender of the examiner may be an important consideration in the measurement of sex and gender differences in pain research, the choice of pain assessment method may be of similar consequence.
此前，研究和临床环境都探讨过检查者性别对疼痛报告的影响。然而，以往的调查有限，大多数研究采用单一的静态疼痛评估方法（如冷压痛试验、言语疼痛评分）。目前尚不清楚检查者性别对基于静态和动态热刺激的疼痛评估有何影响。38名参与者（20名女性，年龄24.1±4.44岁；18名男性，年龄24.8±4.54岁）完成了两个相同的测试环节，采用交叉设计随机分配给一名男性检查者和一名女性检查者。使用热痛阈值、对持续性热刺激的言语疼痛评分、对持续性热刺激的计算机化视觉模拟量表（CoVAS）评分以及参与者控制温度（PCT）热痛评估来检测疼痛敏感性。与男性参与者相比，女性参与者在接受女性检查者检查时，对持续性热刺激报告的言语疼痛更高，CoVAS对持续性热刺激的反应也有类似趋势。相反，热痛阈值和PCT不受检查者性别的显著影响。总体而言，言语评分受检查者性别的影响最大，而基于温度的方法（如PCT）和疼痛阈值受检查者性别的影响很小或没有影响。虽然在疼痛研究中测量性别差异时，检查者的性别可能是一个重要的考虑因素，但疼痛评估方法的选择可能也会产生类似的影响。
