ArticleBMJ open2024
Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of widespread pain and peak alpha frequency cannot be isolated to a single network.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Effects and predictors of intravenous lidocaine infusion for patients with fibromyalgia.PloS one · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe chronic pain syndromes (CPS) include syndromes such as chronic widespread pain (CWP), dry eye disease (DED) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Highly prevalent and lacking pathognomonic biomarkers, the CPS are known to cluster in individuals in part due to their genetic overlap, but patient diagnosis can be difficult. The success of quantitative sensory testing (QST) and inflammatory biomarkers as phenotyping tools in conditions such as painful neuropathies warrant their investigation in CPS. We aimed to examine whether individual QST modalities and candidate inflammatory markers were associated with CWP, DED or IBS in a large, highly phenotyped population sample.
designCross-sectional study.
settingCommunity-dwelling cohort.
participantsTwins from the TwinsUK cohort PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We compared 10 QST modalities, measured in participants with and without a CWP diagnosis between 2007 and 2012. We investigated whether inflammatory markers measured by Olink were associated with CWP, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tumour necrosis factor. All analyses were repeated in DED and IBS with correction for multiple testing.
resultsIn N=3022 twins (95.8% women), no association was identified between individual QST modalities and CPS diagnoses (CWP, DED and IBS). Analyses of candidate inflammatory marker levels and CPS diagnoses in n=1368 twins also failed to meet statistical significance.
conclusionOur findings in a large population cohort suggest a lack of true association between singular QST modalities or candidate inflammatory markers and CPS.
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