Conditioned pain modulation and pressure pain sensitivity in the adult Danish general population: The DanFunD study

Abstract Increased pressure pain sensitivity and impaired descending pain control have been associated with chronic pain, but knowledge on the variability in the adult general population is lacking. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and descending pain control as assessed by conditioning pain modulation (CPM) were recorded in a randomly selected sample (n=2199, 53% females) of the Danish adult general population aged 18-70 years. PPTs were recorded over the tibialis anterior muscle and the upper trapezius muscle. CPM was defined as the difference between PPT assessments before and during conditioning with cold pressor pain (hand) for 2 min. Conditioning pain intensity was assessed on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and questionnaire data was collected. Female sex (P