Sex and age differences in sensory threshold for transcutaneous electrical stimulation

Abstract Introduction Pain is one of the main symptoms prevalent in most pathologies. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) represents not only a therapeutic measure, but also a mean to quantify the neurosensory and pain perception in patients with chronic pain. Objective To evaluate the relationship between sex and age with neurosensory thresholds (sensory threshold and tolerance threshold) in the application of therapeutic current in patients with chronic pain. Methods Forty-five patients with chronic pain (30 women and 15 men) aged between 24 and 87 years were selected. Each patient answered the Individual Questionnaire, McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Subsequently, the electric current was applied, through which the sensory and pain thresholds were analyzed, as well as the perception of activation of the neurosensory pathways for each individual. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 24.0 for Windows. Results There was no significant correlation (p > 0.05) between a possible depressive diagnosis and the perception of current by the sensory and pain thresholds. Regarding sex, there was a significant difference in sensory thresholds (p = 0.003) between men and women, while no statistical differences were observed between sexes for pain complaint and pain threshold (p > 0.05). For the correlational analysis, a significant correlation (p = 0.05) was identified between the variables BMI and pain tolerance threshold (r = 0.68) for females and age and sensory threshold (r = 0.65) for males. Conclusion The sex and age variables are important in the measurement of TENS parameters because they lead to significant differences in sensory and pain thresholds.

## 摘要
### 引言
疼痛是多数病理状态下普遍存在的主要临床症状之一。经皮神经电刺激（Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, TENS）不仅是一种治疗手段，同时也是量化慢性疼痛患者神经感觉功能与疼痛感知水平的工具。
### 研究目的
探讨慢性疼痛患者应用治疗性电流时，性别与年龄对其神经感觉阈值（感觉阈值与耐受阈值）的关联关系。
### 研究方法
选取45例慢性疼痛患者，其中女性30例、男性15例，年龄介于24至87岁之间。所有受试者均填写个人问卷、麦吉尔疼痛问卷（McGill Pain Questionnaire, MPQ）以及贝克抑郁量表（Beck Depression Inventory, BDI）。随后施加治疗性电流，分析受试者的感觉阈值与疼痛阈值，并评估个体神经感觉通路的激活感知情况。数据采用SPSS 24.0 for Windows进行统计分析。
### 研究结果
抑郁诊断可能性与通过感觉、疼痛阈值评估的电流感知之间无显著相关性（p > 0.05）。就性别而言，男女受试者的感觉阈值存在显著差异（p = 0.003），但在疼痛主诉与疼痛阈值方面未观察到统计学差异（p > 0.05）。相关性分析显示，女性受试者的体质量指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）与疼痛耐受阈值存在显著相关性（r = 0.68），男性受试者的年龄与感觉阈值存在显著相关性（r = 0.65）。
### 研究结论
性别与年龄是经皮神经电刺激参数测量中的重要影响因素，二者可导致感觉阈值与疼痛阈值出现显著差异。