ArticlePLoS computational biology2021
Can subjective pain be inferred from objective physiological data? Evidence from patients with sickle cell disease.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analgesia in trauma patients treated by advanced life support nursing units: a retrospective pre-post intervention observational study.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2026Observational
- Utilizing Artificial Intelligence for the Diagnosis, Assessment, and Management of Chronic Pain.Journal of biomedical physics & engineering · 2025Review
- Article
- Mathematical modeling of SCD: a literature review.Journal of sickle cell disease · 2025Review
- RHRVEasy: Heart rate variability made easy.PloS one · 2024Article
- Use of consumer wearables to monitor and predict pain in patients with sickle cell disease.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Chronic Pain Treatment and Digital Health Era-An Opinion.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience lifelong struggles with both chronic and acute pain, often requiring medical interventMaion. Pain can be managed with medications, but dosages must balance the goal of pain mitigation against the risks of tolerance, addiction and other adverse effects. Setting appropriate dosages requires knowledge of a patient's subjective pain, but collecting pain reports from patients can be difficult for clinicians and disruptive for patients, and is only possible when patients are awake and communicative. Here we investigate methods for estimating SCD patients' pain levels indirectly using vital signs that are routinely collected and documented in medical records. Using machine learning, we develop both sequential and non-sequential probabilistic models that can be used to infer pain levels or changes in pain from sequences of these physiological measures. We demonstrate that these models outperform null models and that objective physiological data can be used to inform estimates for subjective pain.
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Registered trials
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.