Effects of ethnicity and gender role expectations of pain on experimental pain: A cross-cultural study.

摘要

Gender role expectations of pain (GREP) have been shown to mediate sex differences in experimental pain. Few studies have investigated the role of ethnicity in shaping GREP. The aim of this study was to examine interactions between ethnicity and GREP on experimentally induced pressure and ischaemic pain in Libyan and white British students in their respective countries.Libyan (n?=?124) and white British (n?=?51) students completed a GREP questionnaire and their response to experimental pain was measured. Blunt pressure pain threshold (PPT) was measured over the 1st interosseous muscle using algometry. Pain intensity and pain unpleasantness (100?mm visual analogue scale) were measured at 1-min intervals during a submaximal effort tourniquet test on the forearm.Multivariate analysis of variance detected significant effects for Sex and Ethnicity on pain measurements. Men had higher PPTs than women (p??0.05). Libyan participants had higher pain intensity (p?