Association between Physiological and Subjective Aspects of Pain and Disability in Post-Stroke Patients with Shoulder Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

Patients often experience pain as a result of a stroke. However, the mechanism of this pain remains uncertain. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and disability pain in patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP). Methods: Twenty-six post-stroke patients (age 53.35 ± 13.09 years) and healthy controls (54.35 ± 12.37 years) participated. We investigated spontaneous shoulder pain, disability pain perception through the shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI), and the PPTs over joint C5-C6, upper trapezius, deltoid, epicondyle, second metacarpal, and tibialis anterior, bilaterally. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences in pain between groups (p Post-stroke patients showed a relationship between widespread pressure pain hypersensitivity with lower PPT levels and pain disability perception, suggesting a central sensitization mediated by bilateral and symmetric pain patterns.