• Ruth Ruscheweyh, Benedikt Verneuer, Katharina Dany, Martin Marziniak, Anne Wolowski, Reyhan Çolak-Ekici, Tobias L Schulte, Viola Bullmann, Stephan Grewe, Ingrid Gralow, Stefan Evers, and Stefan Knecht.
• Department of Neurology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Department of Neurology, University of Munich, München, Germany Department of Prosthodontics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Department of Orthopaedics and Tumororthopaedics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Eye Hospital, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
• Pain. 2012 Jun 1; 153 (6): 1210-1218.

AbstractRecently, a self-rating measure for pain perception based on imagined painful daily life situations, the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ), has been developed and shown to correlate with experimentally obtained pain intensity ratings in healthy subjects. Here, we assessed the validity of the PSQ for investigation of general pain perception (ie, pain perception outside the site of clinical pain) in chronic pain patients. PSQ scores were obtained in 134 chronic pain patients and compared to those of 185 healthy control subjects. In a subgroup of 46 chronic pain patients, we performed experimental pain testing outside the clinical pain site, including different modalities (heat, cold, pressure, and pinprick) and different measures (pain thresholds, pain intensity ratings). Results show that PSQ scores were significantly correlated with both experimental pain intensity ratings (Pearson's r=0.71, P<.001) and experimental pain thresholds (r=-0.52, P<.001). In addition, chronic pain patients exhibited significantly elevated PSQ scores as compared to healthy controls, consistent with the generalized increase of experimentally determined pain perception that has repeatedly been reported in chronic pain patients. These results demonstrate that the PSQ constitutes a valid self-rating measure of pain perception outside the clinical pain site in chronic pain patients and might serve as an alternative to experimental assessment of pain perception outside the clinical pain site in situations where experimental pain testing is not feasible.Copyright © 2012 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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