Pain catastrophizing in the elderly: An experimental pain study

Abstract

Pain catastrophizing in the aging population has not been studied in great detail. Existing investigations have reported conflicting results on the effects of age on pain catastrophizing in relation to pain responses. This study investigated the relationship between pain catastrophizing, and its individual components (rumination, magnification, and helplessness), and the responses to standardized experimental pain stimuli in old and young, healthy adults.

Keywords

• pain catastrophizing
• experimental pain
• elderly
• age
• pain responses
• cognitive functioning