Sex-dependent effects of reported familial pain history on recent pain complaints and experimental pain responses

Previous research has demonstrated that both sex and familial pain history can influence clinical pain, and sex is known to affect experimental pain r esponses. However, the potential interactive effects of sex and family hist ory on pain-related symptoms and experimental pain have not been investigat ed. This experiment examined recent pain complaints and laboratory pain res ponses as a function of sex and reported family history of pain in 212 (122 female, 90 male) young adults. All subjects completed questionnaires regar ding family history of pain, recent pain experiences, and psychological mea sures of hypervigilance. Then, warmth detection thresholds, heat pain thres holds and heat pain tolerances were determined. Results revealed sex-depend ent influences of familial pain history on recent pain complaints and exper imental pain responses. Specifically, a positive family history of pain was associated with increased reports of pain over the previous month and poor er general health as well as enhanced sensitivity to thermal stimuli among females but not males. Higher levels of hyper-vigilance accounted for some of the family history effects on recent pain complaints but not experimenta l pain measures. Potential mechanisms underlying these effects of family hi story among females are discussed. (C) 2000 International Association for t he Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.