THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND FAMILY HISTORY OF PAIN WITH CURRENT PAIN EXPERIENCE AND AWARENESS OF PAIN IN OTHERS

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between family history o f pain and current pain experience in a student population. In a sampl e of 180 students who completed a pain history questionnaire there was a significant difference between males and females with women reporti ng significantly more pain models than men even when menstrual pain mo dels were excluded from the analysis. There was also a difference on c urrent pain symptoms, with women reporting more pain symptoms but this difference was no longer significant when menstrual pain was excluded . These results suggest that differences observed between sexes in a y oung student population in relation to current pain symptom reports ma y be accounted for by the presence of menstrual pain rather than by di fferences in family history of pain as it has previously been suggeste d. The higher incidence of pain models reported by females for menstru al as well as non-menstrual pain suggests a greater awareness of pain in others without implying a greater tendency for the young females as a group to report pain themselves. (C) 1998 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.