Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41999284›Full record

Trial reportScandinavian journal of pain2026

Effect of ambient cold exposure on pain modulation: exploring individually reported thermal comfort as moderating factor in a crossover study of young adults.

Fred Haugen, Therese Velle, Dagfinn Matre

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scandinavian journal of pain, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Fred HaugenNational Institute of Occupational Health STAMI, Oslo, Norway.
Therese VelleNational Institute of Occupational Health STAMI, Oslo, Norway.
Dagfinn MatreNational Institute of Occupational Health STAMI, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-0042-6389

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesPain is a hallmark of musculoskeletal conditions. Some studies suggest that pain is exacerbated by working in cold environments, potentially due to poorly understood mechanisms within the somatosensory system. The aim of this study was to assess whether ambient cold exposure influences the efficiency of endogenous pain inhibition and the potential role of subjective thermal comfort.

methodsIn a crossover study with 1 week interval and in randomized order, 20 healthy men were exposed to cold (COLD; 10 °C) and thermoneutral (TN; 22 °C) conditions in a controlled environment room (CER) for 2 h. Conditioned pain modulation (CPM), defined as the difference in mean rated pain of a test stimuli (TS) with and without a conditioning stimulus (CS), was calculated before and after CER. Test stimuli (TS) was a 30 s tonic noxious heat stimulation to the dominant volar forearm, and conditioning stimuli (CS) was immersion of the contralateral hand in water holding 4 °C. Subjective TS pain was rated on a 0-10 cm computerized Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Thermal comfort, encompassing subjective thermal perception, evaluation, and preference, was assessed using standardized subjective judgment scales.

resultsThe CPM-effect was significantly reduced by COLD exposure, but not by TN exposure. As expected, participants' ratings of thermal comfort changed across exposure conditions; however, this had no significant influence on the CPM-effect.

conclusionsExposure to cold ambient conditions impaired endogenous pain-inhibitory pathways, an outcome not observed under thermoneutral conditions. Furthermore, the results suggest that thermal comfort does not influence endogenous pain-inhibitory pathways. Further research is required to identify moderators affecting pain processing in cold working environments. Regional Ethics Committee, Norway (REK sør-øst C; application # 2017/1859).

Indexed as

Cold TemperaturePainPain PerceptionAdultCross-Over StudiesHumansMalePain MeasurementPain ThresholdThermal ComfortYoung Adultcold exposureconditioned pain modulationexperimental painthermal comfort

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Registered trials

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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.