(327) Exactly What You Think: Perceived Threat and Challenge Predict Quantitative Sensory Testing Outcomes in Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

While perceived threat (anticipated harm) and challenge (test of abilities) have been previously found to predict pain intensity ratings to thermal stimuli in healthy populations, few studies have assessed the relationship between threat and challenge and experimental pain outcomes in patients with chronic pain. This study examined associations of perceived threat and challenge on quantitative sensory testing (QST) outcomes in patients with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) and healthy controls. In the present study, 40 adults with TMJD (n = 35 female, mean age = 30.4, SD = 6.19) and 22 healthy controls (n = 18 female, mean age = 27.8, SD = 7.07) provided separate ratings of threat and challenge immediately prior to completing painful heat, pressure, and punctate QST. Participants provided ratings of pain intensity following each stimulus. In both patients with TMJD and healthy controls, challenge ratings correlated with ratings of thermal pain intensity (r= .30, p = .02), while ratings of both challenge and threat correlated with ratings of pressure and punctate pain intensity (r’s = .36 - .50, p’s .05). These results replicate and extend prior research by demonstrating that perceived threat and challenge of a QST procedure can predict pain outcomes in patients with chronic pain. Future research should explore relationships between perceptions of threat and challenge with other QST modalities (i.e., delayed-onset muscle pain, electric pain), and explore how perception of QST parameters may influence pain chronicity. Supported by NIDCRR00DE022368-03.