Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (Jun 2020)

4095 Concurrent assessment of experimental pain and self-reported pain intensity with acute exercise intervention in fibromyalgia; clarifying or obscuring clinical outcomes?

  • Giovanni Berardi,
  • Grace Ptizen,
  • Matthew DellaIacono,
  • Marie Hoeger Bement

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2020.294
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4
pp. 94 – 94

Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Experimental pain testing is used to identify changes in nociceptive processing and outcomes with intervention. This study investigated exercise induced changes in experimental pain and self-reported pain intensity after an acute bout of exercise in participants with fibromyalgia. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Ten females with fibromyalgia (55±10yr) were familiarized to study procedures and underwent submaximal (20% maximal voluntary contraction) intermittent eccentric muscle contractions isolated to the right arm for 10-minutes. Self-reported pain intensity (0-10 numerical pain rating scale [NPRS]) of the exercising arm was measured before, during, and after exercise; whole-body pain intensity was measured before and after exercise. Experimental pain testing included measurement of pressure pain thresholds (kPa [PPTs]); temporal summation (TS) of pressure pain with a constant mechanical pressure; and TS of punctate pressure with repeated application of monofilaments before and after exercise. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Participants reported minimal to moderate arm pain (3.1±2.1) during exercise. Following exercise, arm pain and whole-body pain significantly increased (3.1±2.2 and 1.6±0.5, respectively) [p0.05]. The change in self-reported arm and whole-body pain did not correlate with the change in experimental pain testing. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: In people with fibromyalgia, there is no relation between self-reported clinical pain and experimental pain following a single exercise session. Further research should identify the influence of exercise training on pain perception and if experimental pain testing translates to clinical insight.