ArticleArthritis research & therapy2026
Sex differences in pain-related biopsychosocial assessments in patients with axial spondyloarthritis.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), (back)pain is the key symptom and often linked to inflammation. However, knowledge on sex-related differences in pain is limited. Therefore, our study aim was to explore sex differences in a broad spectrum of pain-related biopsychosocial assessments in patients with axSpA.
methodsExplorative cross-sectional study from Groningen Leeuwarden axSpA (GLAS) cohort. Following assessments were performed: pain-related questions 2–4 of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), quantitative sensory testing, including pain pressure threshold (PTT), temporal summation and conditioned pain modulation, and questionnaires assessing central sensitization, illness perception, coping strategies, anxiety/depression, and pain-related worrying. Effect sizes (ES) were interpreted as small (< 0.5), moderate (0.5–<0.8), or large (≥ 0.8). Univariable linear regression explored variables associated with BASDAI backpain question 2.
results128 men and 73 women were included. Women scored higher on the BASDAI questions, had lower PPTs, higher CSI values (41.5 ± 13.6 vs. 30.6 ± 13.8; ES = 0.79) and used more often comforting cognitions (29.9 ± 4.1 vs. 27.8 ± 4.9; ES = 0.51), decreasing activity (21.0 ± 4.3 vs. 18.8 ± 4.5; ES = 0.49), and diverting attention (22.3 ± 3.9 vs. 20.1 ± 4.7; ES = 0.78) as coping strategies than men. Regression analysis demonstrated that factors associated with pain-related disease activity differ between sexes with varying R2.
conclusionsOur study suggests that men and women with axSpA show distinct patterns in pain-related biopsychosocial assessments. Women reported higher pain severity, different pain sensitivity, psychosocial profiles and associations with pain. These findings support the importance of addressing pain differently between sexes in clinical practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.