Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Northern Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Scand J Pain. 2024 Mar 18;24(1). doi: 10.1515/sjpain-2023-0082. eCollection 2024 Jan 1.
Previous studies have suggested that experimental pain sensitivity is associated with cognitive function. The aim of this study is to assess this relationship in a large population-based sample.
We included 5,753 participants (aged 40-84 years) from the seventh wave of the population-based Tromsø Study who had been examined with cognitive tests and experimental pain assessments, and for whom information on covariates were available. Cox regression models were fitted using standardized scores on cognitive tests (12-word immediate recall test, digit symbol coding test, and Mini-Mental State Examination [MMS-E]) as the independent variable and cold pressor or cuff pressure pain tolerance as the dependent variables. Statistical adjustment was made for putative confounders, namely, age, sex, education, smoking, exercise, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, symptoms indicating anxiety or depression, analgesic use, and chronic pain.
In multivariate analysis, cold pressor tolerance time was significantly associated with test scores on the 12-word immediate recall test (hazard ratio [HR] 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90-0.97, < 0.001), the digit symbol coding test (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.89-0.98, = 0.004), and the MMS-E (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.90-0.96 < 0.001). Tolerance to cuff pressure algometry was significantly associated with 12-word immediate recall (HR 0.94-0.97, < 0.001) and Digit Symbol Coding test scores (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.96, < 0.001) while there was no significant association with Mini Mental State Examination test score (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.95-1.00, = 0.082).
Lower pain tolerance was associated with poorer performance on cognitive tests.
先前的研究表明，实验性疼痛敏感性与认知功能有关。本研究的目的是在一个大型基于人群的样本中评估这种关系。
我们纳入了来自基于人群的特罗姆瑟研究第七波的 5753 名参与者（年龄 40-84 岁），他们接受了认知测试和实验性疼痛评估，并且可以获得有关协变量的信息。使用标准化的认知测试分数（12 字即时回忆测试、数字符号编码测试和简易精神状态检查 [MMS-E]）作为自变量，冷加压或袖带压力疼痛耐受度作为因变量，拟合 Cox 回归模型。进行了统计学调整，以调整潜在的混杂因素，即年龄、性别、教育程度、吸烟、运动、收缩压、体重指数、焦虑或抑郁症状、镇痛药使用和慢性疼痛。
在多变量分析中，冷加压耐受时间与 12 字即时回忆测试（危险比 [HR] 0.93，95%置信区间 [CI] 0.90-0.97，<0.001）、数字符号编码测试（HR 0.94，95% CI 0.89-0.98，=0.004）和简易精神状态检查（HR 0.93，95% CI 0.90-0.96，<0.001）的测试分数显著相关。袖带压力测痛法的耐受度与 12 字即时回忆（HR 0.94-0.97，<0.001）和数字符号编码测试分数（HR 0.93，95% CI 0.89-0.96，<0.001）显著相关，而与简易精神状态检查测试分数无显著相关性（HR 0.98，95% CI 0.95-1.00，=0.082）。
较低的疼痛耐受度与认知测试表现较差相关。
