Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9688
Title: Is tactile acuity altered in people with chronic pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Catley, MJ
O'Connell, NE
Berryman, C
Ayhan, FF
Moseley, GL
Keywords: 2-point discrimination;Chronic pain;Reorganization;Sensory training;Tactile acuity
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: The Journal of Pain, 15(10): pp.985-1000, (2014)
Abstract: Impaired tactile acuity in people with chronic pain conditions has been suggested to reflect altered cortical representation of the painful body part, and treatments that aim to improve tactile acuity in these conditions have shown clinical benefit. Whether abnormalities in tactile acuity are a consistent feature of chronic pain remains largely unknown. The aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the literature and use meta-analysis to establish whether tactile acuity is altered in people with chronic non-neuropathic pain. We systematically searched the literature for studies that investigated tactile acuity in people with chronic non-neuropathic pain and compared it to an appropriate control group. Sixteen studies, reporting data from 5 chronic pain conditions, were included. Data were available for 18 chronic pain populations (n = 484) and 15 control populations (n = 378). Our results suggest that tactile acuity is diminished in arthritis, complex regional pain syndrome, and chronic low back pain but not in burning mouth syndrome. The strength of the available evidence is weakened by somewhat inconsistent results and the high risk of bias observed in all of the included studies. Perspective: This systematic review synthesizes the evidence for tactile acuity deficits in people with chronic non-neuropathic pain. The findings suggest that tactile acuity deficits may be characteristic of chronic pain. That tactile acuity training may be of benefit to chronic pain disorders suggests that clinical trials of this possibility appear warranted.
Description: This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.
URI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526590014007925
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9688
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2014.06.009
ISSN: 1526-5900
Appears in Collections:Brunel OA Publishing Fund
Dept of Health Sciences Research Papers

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