• Noga Tsur, Ruth Defrin, Yafit Levin, Liat Itzhaky, and Zahava Solomon.
• I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel Aviv University.
• Psychol Trauma. 2019 Jan 28.

ObjectivePrevious findings have demonstrated that torture survivors exhibit chronic pain and alterations in pain perception. However, not much is known regarding the characteristics of the torture experience and its contribution to these long-term ramifications. The current study examined the unique role of objective severity and subjective suffering in torture in predicting chronic pain and acute pain perception and pain modulation.MethodEighteen years after war, 59 former prisoners of war who were subjected to severe torture in captivity were assessed for subjective suffering in torture and estimated weight loss during captivity (an indication of torture severity) using self-administered questionnaires. Thirty-five years after captivity, systemic quantitative somatosensory testing was conducted, which included the measurement of pain threshold, pain tolerance, conditioned pain modulation, and perceived suprathreshold stimuli. Self-administered questionnaires were also used to evaluate chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder.ResultsThe findings indicated that subjective suffering was associated with pain threshold, conditioned pain modulation, perceived suprathreshold stimuli, and chronic pain while controlling for posttraumatic stress symptoms. Estimated weight loss was associated only with pain threshold.ConclusionThe findings demonstrate that the experience of chronic and acute pain is rooted in the subjective perception of traumatic experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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