| Study | Study Participants [Sample size (M/F; age)] | Classification of Obesity | Noxious Stimuli | Outcome Measure |
Data Obese [Mean+SD] |
Data Non-Obese [Mean+SD] |
Difference P value |
Authors’ Conclusion |
Methodological Quality Score (%) Reviewers’ Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKendall and Haier (1982) [31] | N = 60(28/32; 20-67 years) N obese = 26(8/18) N non-obese = 34(20/14) |
Obese >130% ideal body weight Non-obese <130% ideal body weight |
Constant blunt pressure applied at 3lbs applied to finger using a “pressure bearing device” | Pain Threshold | 59.4+48.15s |
95.51+53.36s |
<0.001 |
Obese more sensitive to noxious stimuli than non-obese | 55% |
| Pain Tolerance | 81.88+56.09s | 131.03+ 51.14s | <0.01 | ||||||
| Raymond et al. (1995) [27] |
N = 104(0/104; 19-50 years) N obese without binge eating disorder [non-BED] = 33(0/33) N obese with binge eating disorder [BED] = 27(027) N non-obese [control] = 44(0/44) |
BMI | Blunt pressure applied at 64gs-1 to finger using an Ugo Basile analgesia meter | Pain Threshold |
non-BED= 384+24g BED =453+31g |
356+19g [control] |
0.38 |
No difference in sensitivity to noxious stimuli between obese and non-obese individuals | 48% No statistically significant correlation coefficient (r) between BMI and pain threshold or tolerance |
| Pain Tolerance | non-BED =544+32g BED=612+42g |
552+29g [control] | 0.297 | ||||||
| Khimich (1997) [32] | N = 206 (114/92;18-84 years) N obese (stage II-III) = Not reported N overweight (stage I obese) = Not reported N ‘non-obese’=Not reported |
Used Broca index [details not reported] into Obese (stage II-III) Obese stage I (overweight) Normal |
Needle (sharp) pressure applied to the forearm | Expression of mild pain [assumed to be pain threshold] Expression of severe pain [assumed to be pain tolerance] |
72.9g [SD not reported] |
Normal = 40.5g [SD not reported] Overweight = 57.6g [SD not reported] |
Not reported |
Obese less sensitive to noxious stimuli than non-obese | 21% Minimal detail provided in report Overweight measure for pain tolerance reported as 91.3g in Abstract and 91.8g in Results |
| 116.2g [SD not reported] | Normal = 76.5g [SD not reported] Overweight=91.8g [SD not reported] |
Not reported | |||||||
| Astita et al. (2015) [29] | 38 adults (18 women) were grouped as normal weight(n=22) or obese (n=16) | BMI | Somedic Algometer applied at thenar eminence | Pain Threshold | 340.93±93.58kPa | 447.45±203.72kPa | 0.039 | Obese more sensitive to blunt pressure stimuli than non-obese | 73% |
| Tashani et al. (2017) [30] | 72 healthy participants (37 women) divided into 3 groups according to their BMI: Normal=25 Overweight= 24 Obese= 25 |
BMI values were: Obese= 34.4+3.90 kg/m2 Normal =22.1+2.04 kg/m2 |
Somedic Algometer applied at thenar eminence |
Pain Threshold | 620.72+423.81kPa | 1154.70+847.18kPa | 0.005 | Obese more sensitive to blunt pressure stimuli than non-obese | 88% |