Jamison Robert N, Anderson Karen O, Slater Mark A
Pain Management Center, Departments of Anesthesia and Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 USA Pain Control Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655 USA Pain Management Program (116B), San Diego VA Medical Center and University of California, San Diego, CA 92161 USA.
Pain. 1995 May;61(2):309-315. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(94)00215-Z.
Patients with chronic pain frequently report that changes in the weather influence their pain. This study investigated differences in the perceived influence of weather on pain among 558 chronic pain patients living in 4 cities (San Diego, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Boston, Massachusetts) in the United States. Local climatologic data for each city were obtained from the National Climatic Data Center. All patients completed a weather questionnaire, and the information they provided was compared with demographic and weather variables. The majority of all patients believed that changes in the weather affected their pain. Pain patients who were younger and who had arthritis reported the most sensitivity to changes in weather. Weather sensitivity was unrelated to all other demographic variables and to geographic region. Cold and damp conditions were considered to influence pain the most. However, the perceived effect of weather on pain was not found to be related to regional climate. Thus, the belief that pain is worsened by living in a colder climate was not supported. An equilibrium theory of weather changes and pain is discussed. Further investigations are needed to identify the mechanisms involved in the effects of weather changes on pain.
慢性疼痛患者经常报告天气变化会影响他们的疼痛。本研究调查了美国4个城市（加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥；田纳西州纳什维尔；马萨诸塞州伍斯特；马萨诸塞州波士顿）的558名慢性疼痛患者在天气对疼痛的感知影响方面的差异。每个城市的当地气候数据均从国家气候数据中心获取。所有患者都完成了一份天气问卷，并将他们提供的信息与人口统计学和天气变量进行了比较。所有患者中的大多数人认为天气变化会影响他们的疼痛。年龄较小且患有关节炎的疼痛患者报告对天气变化最为敏感。天气敏感性与所有其他人口统计学变量及地理区域均无关。寒冷和潮湿的环境被认为对疼痛影响最大。然而，未发现天气对疼痛的感知影响与区域气候有关。因此，生活在较寒冷气候中疼痛会加剧这一观点未得到支持。本文讨论了天气变化与疼痛的平衡理论。需要进一步研究以确定天气变化对疼痛产生影响所涉及的机制。
