The present study experimentally investigated the nociceptive threshold and the subjective pain perception in panic disorder (PD). Thirty seven PD patients were voluntarily submitted to a cold pressor test (CPT) in which one of their hands was dipped into a thermostatized cold water bath (7ºC) for a maximum period of three minutes. Acute pain experience was assessed by measuring the hand retrieval latency, whereas the subjective pain experience was evaluated through McGill Pain Questionnaire and a pain visual analog scale. As compared to 37 healthy control-subjects, results indicated similar hand retrieval latencies but a significantly higher subjective pain experience in PD patients. Such pattern of results not only indicates the usefulness of the cold pressor test to induce and experimentally study pain in laboratory settings, but also suggests an important anxiety-pain association.
Pain; Cold Pressor Test; Panic Disorder; Mcgill Pain Questionnaire
