ArticlePain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2018
Catastrophizing Interferes with Cognitive Modulation of Pain in Women with Fibromyalgia.
Article in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Structural and Functional Neuroimaging Findings in Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Fibromyalgia: an update on clinical characteristics, aetiopathogenesis and treatment.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2020Pooled it
- The role of catastrophizing in chronic cyclical pelvic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Women's health (London, England)Pooled it
- A review of descending pain modulation in humans.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Associations Between Genetic Polymorphisms and Psychological Variables in Women With Fibromyalgia: A Cross-Sectional Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Differential Predictive Capabilities of Cognitive Performance on Psychological Pain Variables in Chronic Low Back Pain.Pain research & management · 2026Article
- Pressure point: blood flow restriction exercise and the pain paradox in musculoskeletal injury and persistent pain populations-a narrative review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The effects of experimental pain on episodic memory and its top-down modulation: a preregistered pooled analysis.Pain reports · 2024Article
- Bidirectional Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis Reveals Causal Associations Between Modifiable Risk Factors and Fibromyalgia.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Choosing the optimal target area for repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation in treating neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury patients: a comparative analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- How to Generate Self-Efficacy despite Pain: The Role of Catastrophizing and Avoidance in Women with Fibromyalgia.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Effect of Catastrophic Thinking on the Analgesic Effect of Electroacupuncture.Medical acupuncture · 2023Article
- Exploring pain catastrophizing and its associations with low disease activity in rheumatic inflammatory disorders.Rheumatology international · 2023Article
- Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Chinese Chronic Orofacial Pain Patients with Psychological Health Problems: A Moderated Mediation Model.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Effects of Walking as Physical Exercise on Functional Limitation through Pain in Patients with Fibromyalgia-How Does Catastrophic Thinking Contribute?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Nociplastic pain concept, a mechanistic basis for pragmatic approach to fibromyalgia.Clinical rheumatology · 2022Review
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Pain Interference: A Conceptual Model for the Role of Insomnia, Fatigue, and Pain Catastrophizing.Crohn's & colitis 360 · 2022Article
- Whole Body Pain Distribution and Risk Factors for Widespread Pain Among Patients Presenting with Abdominal Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Pain and therapy · 2022Article
- Associations between pain catastrophizing and resting-state functional brain connectivity: Ethnic/race group differences in persons with chronic knee pain.Journal of neuroscience research · 2022Observational
- The puzzle of fibromyalgia between central sensitization syndrome and small fiber neuropathy: a narrative review on neurophysiological and morphological evidence.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Pain modulation is a critical function of the nociceptive system that includes the ability to engage descending pain control systems to maintain a functional balance between facilitation and inhibition of incoming sensory stimuli. Dysfunctional pain modulation is associated with increased risk for chronic pain and is characteristic of fibromyalgia (FM). Catastrophizing is also common in FM. However, its influence on pain modulation is poorly understood. Objective: To determine the role of catastrophizing on central nervous system processing during pain modulation in FM via examining brain responses and pain sensitivity during an attention-distraction paradigm. Methods: Twenty FM patients and 18 healthy controls (CO) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while receiving pain stimuli, administered alone and during distracting cognitive tasks. Pain ratings were assessed after each stimulus. Catastrophizing was assessed with the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Results: The ability to modulate pain during distraction varied among FM patients and was associated with catastrophizing. This was demonstrated by significant positive relationships between PCS scores and pain ratings (P < 0.05) and brain responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P < 0.01). Relationships between catastrophizing and pain modulation did not differ between FM and CO (P > 0.05). Conclusions: FM patients with higher levels of catastrophizing were less able to distract themselves from pain, indicative of catastrophizing-related impairments in pain modulation. These results suggest that the tendency to catastrophize interacts with attention-resource allocation and may represent a mechanism of chronic pain exacerbation and/or maintenance. Reducing catastrophizing may improve FM symptoms via improving central nervous system regulation of pain.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.