A study carried out by researchers from the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP) concluded that persistent pain in childhood can reduce pain tolerance in later stages of life, but is a predictor of lower quality of life in the future.
A persistent pain in childhood can reduce the pain tolerance in adolescence. The conclusion is from a study presented this Friday at ISPUP.
How name SEPIA [acrónimo de ‘Studying Experiences of Pain In Adolescents’, em português “Estudo de experiências de dor em adolescentes”]this investigation aimed to identify key characteristics of physical pain during adolescence that allow predicting the risk of developing pain chronic musculoskeletal in the transition to adulthood.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the ISPUP researcher and coordinator of the SEPIA project, Raquel Lucassaid that they used a Quantitative Sensory Test (QST), which measures the response to physical pressure based on computerized equipment – that is, it produces a standardized pressure, the same for all participants, which allows the sensitivity to pressure to be safely measured. pain at a crucial stage in the development of chronic pain trajectories.
“It was observed that adolescents with a history of musculoskeletal pain since childhood have lower tolerance to pressure stimulation, which suggests that the Prolonged exposure to pain in childhood may increase pain sensitivity in adolescence”, he concluded.
It was also possible to notice that, when looking at the differences between boys and girls, in girls, pain tolerance remains practically the same with puberty. On the other hand, we boys, pain tolerance increases by 20% at this stage.
It was also possible to verify that, in girls, there is a statistical relationship between the Body Mass Index (BMI) at 10 years of age and the pain reported in adolescence, at 13 and 17 years of age: the higher the BMI, the greater the future risk of pain.
According to the study, this relationship can be explained by mechanical or biochemical reasons, but it can also be caused by psychosocial factors: “It was possible to observe that when lower adolescent satisfaction with your body image, lower your pain tolerance on the QST test”.
Pain predicts lower quality of life
The study also revealed that the Parents tend to underestimate their children’s painespecially in cases of multiple and high-intensity pain.
Remembering that in healthcare it is sometimes necessary to assess pediatric pain through caregivers, the ISPUP team carries out a warns about the importance that parents give or do not give to their children’s reports.
Another conclusion is that the Pain in adolescence is a predictor of lower quality of life in the future and that the way young people perceive pain is decisive for the formation of their well-being throughout their lives.
To develop this project – funded by FOREUM, a European foundation in the area of rheumatology research – the researchers involved around 5,000 participantsincluding more than 2,000 young people aged between 14 and 18 and their carers.
