Self-reports of pain and associated cardiovascular response dimensions during two types of the cold pressor test

Patterns of cardiovascular adjustments associated with self-reports of pain during the forehead and foot cold pressor (CP) tests were examined in 40 college men. Each subject participated in two CP sessions of the same type, one of which included ratings of pain. Blood pressure responses during the two tests were comparable in size. Cardiovascular response to foot stimulation consisted of a transient rise in cardiac output, followed by the increase in peripheral resistance, whereas during forehead stimulation, the increase in peripheral resistance was the primary mediator of the blood pressure increase throughout the test. Subjects in the foot CP group gave higher ratings of pain during stimulation than subjects in the forehead CP group. Ratings of pain made after an 8-min delay were identical for both groups. During both tests, increases in blood pressure were proportional to ratings of pain. During the forehead, but not the foot CP test, reporting pain was uniformly associated with increased systolic blood pressure responses through increased peripheral resistance. In contrast, the effect of the pain reporting procedure on diastolic blood pressure was inversely related to the level of reported pain.In the forehead, but not in the foot condition, subjects who responded to stimulation with increased cardiac output (30% of the sample), also gave higher pain ratings, without, however, demonstrating more than an average level of blood pressure increase. Among the remaining 70% of the subjects, in both CP groups, those who reported higher pain ratings also had higher blood pressure responses. This suggested that a positive relationship between blood pressure and pain was present among subjects who increased their blood pressure primarily by increasing their peripheral resistance, whereas the perception of pain was unrelated to blood pressure responses among subjects whose blood pressure increases were mediated in part by increases in cardiac output

Cardiovascular and perceptual effects of reporting pain during the foot and forehead cold pressor tests

In research involving the cold pressor test, a tacit presumption is often made that reporting pain during stimulation is not in itself reactive. This study examined whether, for the foot and forehead cold pressor tests, activities involved in reporting pain may affect (a) the evoked pattern of cardiovascular response, and (b) the magnitude of self-perceived pain. In 40 normotensive college men, increases in systolic blood pressure were greater during test sessions that included verbal ratings of pain, as compared to sessions in which pain was not reported. In contrast to its effect on physiological activation, reporting pain did not significantly alter the participant’s perception of the painfulness of the test, on recollection shortly after the test. We conclude, therefore, that reporting pain during the cold pressor test may impose significant additional demands on the cardiovascular system, but it docs not interfere significantly with the processing of nociceptive information

EFFECTS OF GENDER AND AGE ON THE CARDIAC BARORECEPTOR REFLEX IN HYPERTENSION

The present study examined whether alterations in the cardiac baroreceptor reflex in hypertension may be a function of constitutional differences associated with gender and age. These hypotheses were tested using a cross-sectional design that compared 20 normotensive and 21 hypertensive men and women of varying age for differences in baroreceptor reflex sensitivity and response latency for heart rate, obtained using a modified bolus phenylephrine (Oxford) method. Relative to their respective normotensive controls, baroreceptor reflex sensitivity was reduced in hypertensive men, but not in hypertensive women. Among normotensive subjects, men had greater baroreceptor reflex sensitivity than women. Independent from the effects associated with differences in blood pressure, age was not a significant predictor of reduction in baroreceptor reflex sensitivity. However, a combination of high blood pressure and older age was associated with a significant increase in baroreceptor reflex response time. In summary, gender and aging interacted with hypertension to alter two different aspects of the baroreceptor reflex. These results provide a preliminary indication that a decline in arterial baroreflex sensitivity may be more specific to hypertension in men than in women. Prolongation in baroreflex response latency in older hypertensive subjects also suggested that aging and hypertension may have a synergistic effect on cardiac parasympathetic function

Perceived exertion in fatiguing illness: civilians with chronic fatigue syndrome

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Blood Pressure Reactivity and Perception of Pain During the Forehead Cold Pressor Test

ABSTRACT The relationship between blood pressure reactivity and the perception of pain was examined during a series of three forehead cold pressor tests given every other day to a group of 18 male college students. Subjects classified as high reactors on the basis of peak increases in mean blood pressure during cold pressor tests perceived the cold pressor stimulus as more painful than subjects classified as low reactors. The propensity to rate the cold pressor stimulus as painful was positively correlated with the individual level of blood pressure reactivity (baseline‐free partial r=.62). Intra‐individual correlations between pain and blood pressure responses were unrelated to subjects' reactivity status. Across the 3‐min test, correlations between pain and blood pressure reactivity (with the effects of baseline blood pressure levels partialled out) were significant only during periods when levels of responses were relatively high. The heart rate responses were unrelated to pain ratings. Generalizability theory was applied to the analysis of temporal stability of cold pressor reactions. Both blood pressure and pain responses were highly reproducible across three sessions, appearing to express stable individual differences. The efficacy of 800 mg oral ibuprofen in controlling the cold pressor pain was also tested. Analgesic activity of the drug during the cold pressor test could not be demonstrated

Cardiovascular reactivity as an indicator of risk for future hypertension.

Examines the relationship of cardiovascular reactivity to hypertension. This chapter begins with a definition of reactivity and a discussion of the so-called "reactivity hypothesis," including the potential utility of using laboratory studies of reactivity to understand the relationship of stressful events to the pathobiology of cardiovascular disease. Reactivity is then discussed in terms of its usefulness as a predictor of future hypertension, as well as its potential role as a risk factor in the psychogenesis of this disorder. This chapter reviews much of the cardiovascular reactivity literature and makes a strong case for the study of reactivity in controlled laboratory settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved