High Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Vigorous Physical Activity Relate to Select Pain Sensitivity Assessments in Healthy Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Higher pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were associated with greater self-reported moderate-to-vigorous PA, vigorous PA, and total PA.

• 64 healthy adults (30 female) participated, representing both high and low activity levels.
• PA was evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) for self-report.
• Associations between self-reported PA metrics and PPTs were statistically significant at p ≤ 0.01.
• PPTs are static measures of pain sensitivity assessed via pressure-based quantitative sensory testing (QST).

Higher pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were associated with accelerometry-measured vigorous PA and high cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).

• Objective PA was assessed via accelerometry in addition to self-report.
• CRF was assessed using the YMCA step test.
• Associations between accelerometry vigorous PA, high CRF, and PPTs were significant at p ≤ 0.01.
• Correlation and regression analyses were used to evaluate these relationships.

Self-reported vigorous PA was inversely correlated with temporal summation (TS), a dynamic measure of pain sensitivity.

• The inverse correlation between self-reported vigorous PA and TS was significant at p = 0.01.
• Temporal summation is a dynamic QST measure reflecting central pain processing.
• This was the only PA or CRF metric significantly associated with TS.

PA and CRF metrics were not significantly associated with conditioned pain modulation (CPM) or with temporal summation (TS) for most metrics.

• Other PA or CRF metrics beyond self-reported vigorous PA were not significantly associated with either TS or CPM (p ≥ 0.04).
• CPM is a dynamic QST measure reflecting descending pain inhibition.
• This pattern suggests CRF and PA primarily relate to static rather than dynamic pain processing.

CRF and vigorous PA metrics were more consistently related to static pressure QST (PPT) than to dynamic QST measures (TS and CPM).

• The study included both static measures (PPTs) and dynamic measures (TS and CPM) of pain sensitivity.
• The pattern of selective association with static but not dynamic measures was a primary finding.
• Authors note this finding mirrors inconsistencies observed across cohorts in the broader literature.
• The study used a cross-sectional design with a single cohort of 64 healthy adults.

PA and CRF exhibit distinct relationships with various QST measures, mirroring inconsistencies in the existing literature.

• The authors conclude that different PA and fitness metrics relate differentially to different pain sensitivity assessments.
• Findings were described as consistent with the broader literature showing inconsistent relationships between PA/CRF and pain processing measures.
• The study was cross-sectional, limiting causal inference.
• Participants were healthy adults, and the study did not include chronic pain populations.