Research Symposium

24th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 3, 2024

Manaal Saqib Poster Session 5: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm/48


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BIO


I am a third-year honors student on the pre-medical track from Saint Johns, FL. I am also currently acting Co-President of the Honors Medical Scholars Society, Outreach Coordinator for the Muslim Student Union, and a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant.

Altered Pain Threshold in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain​

Authors: Manaal Saqib, Jie Chen
Student Major: Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences: Clinical Professions
Mentor: Jie Chen
Mentor's Department: Nursing Department
Mentor's College: College of Nursing
Co-Presenters: Ellen Gomez, Hana Poole

Abstract


Pain is a ubiquitous sensation experienced by a majority of individuals during their lifetimes. Pain can lead to discomfort in various areas of the body, such as the back. In fact, low back pain is one of the most prevalent types of pain. Resultantly, this study aims to investigate pain by using Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) to determine differences between low back pain participants and healthy participants. To conduct this study, participants with low back pain and those without low back pain were recruited to have QST performed on their body. Researchers measured the subject's cold pain threshold (CPT), heat pain threshold (HTP), and pressure pain threshold (PTT). Each participant was initially tested on their forearm to familiarize them with the distinct sensations invoked by the QST measurements and tools. Then, each participant was tested on the most painful area of their back. The CPT, HPT, and PPT tests were performed three times each. After data collection, the SPSS software was used to analyze the data. The results of this study illustrated that individuals with low back pain demonstrated a higher pain threshold than those who were healthy and did not possess low back pain. This is significant because this data can connect and fill the knowledge for other researchers studying low back pain. Furthermore, such results could lead to determining the cause of low back pain and implementing future healthcare treatments.

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Keywords: back pain, QST, sensitivity