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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Pain Research Methods
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2024.1421709

Feasibility and Acceptability of Remote Administration of the Cold Pressor Test

Provisionally accepted
Jessica Salwen-Deremer Jessica Salwen-Deremer 1*Jamie M. Horrigan Jamie M. Horrigan 1Sarah J. Westvold Sarah J. Westvold 2Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite 3
  • 1 Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, United States
  • 2 School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 3 Johns Hopkins Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective. Quantitative sensory testing is often used to investigate pain in the context of experimental and clinical research studies. However, many of the devices used for QST protocols are only available in resource rich environments, thereby inadvertently limiting the possible pool of participants. Development of remote protocols for appropriate QST measures has the potential to reduce barriers to participation in research. Methods. Participants with insomnia and Crohn’s disease were recruited as part of a clinical trial. We adapted a remote version of the cold pressor test for use during telehealth-based study assessments. Herein, we present data from the baseline assessments including an assessment of feasibility and acceptability of the task. Results. 100% of participants (N=28) were able to complete the remote cold pressor test using a combination of materials from their homes and mailed by the study team. Temperature changes during the test were minimal and fairly evenly balanced between increases and decreases. Correlations between submersion time and both general and disease specific pain trended toward significance. Conclusions. We demonstrated that a remote version of the cold pressor test is feasible and acceptable in a clinical population and provided a step-by-step protocol for administration to facilitate use in other studies.

    Keywords: quantitative sensory testing, Pain, inflammatory bowel disease, remote monitoring, telehealth, Psychogastroenterology

    Received: 22 Apr 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Salwen-Deremer, Horrigan, Westvold and Haythornthwaite. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jessica Salwen-Deremer, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.