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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate possible differences between men and women's perception of a painful stimulus (venous puncture). DESIGN: Transversal, analytic and observational study. SETTING: Primary care. PARTICIPANTS: 709 people over 14 who attended three health centres for blood extraction. 98 cases were rejected (most because they received more than one puncture). MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Age, sex, tobacco habit, perception of pain (through visual analogic scale from 1 to 10), complaints expressed (oral and/or by gestures) and patient's prior expectations. RESULTS: Mean age: 47.4; 60.1% women. The intensity of pain had an average of 1.35 (SD, 1.60; mode, 0; median, 0.8). 14.7% expressed a complaint. Median of pain was 0.95 (Q(3)–Q(1), 1.9–0.4) in men, whereas it was 0.70 (Q(3)–Q(1), 1.725–0.3) in women (U=40.48; P=.095). No correlation was found between valuation of pain and age (R=–0.055). No differences were found for smokers (median, 0.925; Q(3)–Q(1), 1.725– 0.35) or non-smokers (0.75; 1.825–0.325) (P>.05). There were statistically significant valuations that varied according to the prior expectations of pain. Equally, pain was assessed as more intense by those who expressed a complaint (median, 2.1; Q(3)–Q(1), 3.85–0.475) versus those who did not (0.625; 1.55–0.3) (P |
