Cited by 451Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsSex and Gender in HealthcareMusculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation

A systematic literature review of 10 years of research on sex/gender and pain perception – Part 2: Do biopsychosocial factors alter pain sensitivity differently in women and men?

Racine, Mélanie, Tousignant-Laflamme, Yannick, Kloda, Lorie A., Dion, Dominique, Dupuis, Gilles, Choinière, Manon·2012·Pain

Abstract

This systematic review summarizes the results of 10 years of laboratory research on pain and sex/gender. An electronic search strategy was designed by a medical librarian to access multiple databases. A total of 172 articles published between 1998 and 2008 were retrieved, analyzed, and synthesized. The second set of results presented in this review (129 articles) examined various biopsychosocial factors that may contribute to differences in pain sensitivity between healthy women and men. The results revealed that the involvement of hormonal and physiological factors is either inconsistent or absent. Some studies suggest that temporal summation, allodynia, and secondary hyperalgesia may be more pronounced in women than in men. The evidence to support less efficient endogenous pain inhibitory systems in women is mixed and does not necessarily apply to all pain modalities. With regard to psychological factors, depression may not mediate sex differences in pain perception, while the role of anxiety is ambiguous. Cognitive and social factors appear to partly explain some sex-related differences. Finally, past individual history may be influential in female pain responses. However, these conclusions must be treated with much circumspection for various methodological reasons. Furthermore, some factors/mechanisms remain understudied in the field. There is also a need to assess and improve the ecological validity of findings from laboratory studies on healthy subjects, and perhaps a change of paradigm needs to be considered at this point in time to better understand the factors that influence the experience of women and men who suffer from acute or chronic pain.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.pain.2011.11.026

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207 of 207 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • A consistent pattern of sex differences in pain sensitivity, expression and impact has not yet emerged from laboratory-based research.

    “However, despite a large volume of laboratory-based research in this area, a consistent pattern of sex differences in pain sensitivity, expression and impact has not yet emerged [20].”
  • There is inconsistency regarding the extent of sex differences in psychological factors.

    “An inconsistency is also found regarding what extent there are sex differences with respect to different psychological factors [20, 26].”

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Authors
Racine, M., Tousignant-Laflamme, Y., Kloda, L. A., Dion, D., Dupuis, G., & Choinière, M.
Affiliations
  • Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Université de Montréal (CA)
  • Université du Québec à Montréal (CA)
  • Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CA)
Corresponding author
Choinière, Manon
Venue
Pain
Published
2012-03
Volume
153
Issue
3
Pages
619-635
ISSN
0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2066329882
Cited by
451
References
210
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 10
FWCI
3.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Pain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
Keywords
sex differences in pain perception, gender differences, pain sensitivity, biopsychosocial model, temporal summation, allodynia, secondary hyperalgesia, endogenous pain inhibition, depression, anxiety, cognitive factors, social factors, history of pain, hormonal factors, women's pain
MeSH terms
Biological Factors, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Nervous System, Pain, Psychology, Sex Characteristics, Stress, Psychological, Databases, Bibliographic, Pain Threshold, Biomedical Research, Pain Perception

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