Assessment of Thermoalgesic Pathway Thresholds Using Low-Cost Devices: a Reliability Analysis

EasyChair Preprint 1793

Abstract

Abstract— Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is a reliable way of assessing the function of sensory nerve fibers from the analysis of somatosensory thresholds in general and nociceptive thresholds in particular. At present, these tests are carried out with expensive commercial equipment, which limit their acquisition in many healthcare centers. This paper details the design and development of low-cost devices to assess thermoalgesic thresholds, the design of an experimental protocol to test them and an assessment of their reliability. The protocol was based on the review and adaptation of the devices with the MEDOC TSA 2001 II equipment. A sample of 15 healthy volunteers (7 men, aged 20 to 30 years) was recruited to obtain heat pain thresholds (HPT) and cold tolerance threshold (CTT) , from two sessions separated by 24 h. Reliability analysis was performed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), the Bland-Altman analysis and the standard measurement error (SEM). The results reflect that the devices allowed a practical, accessible and reliable assessment of thermoalgesic thresholds as important physiological characteristics.

Keyphrases: CTT, HPT, QST, Reliability, nociceptive threshold

@booklet{EasyChair:1793,
  author    = {Jose J. Ruiz and Franco Banfi and Tomas D. Rodriguez},
  title     = {Assessment of Thermoalgesic Pathway Thresholds Using Low-Cost Devices: a Reliability Analysis},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 1793},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2019}}