It is well established that pain perception is reduced during spontaneously occurring and experimentally induced episodes of high blood pressure (BP), and this is a clinically relevant phenomenon that interferes with the early detection of the chest pain that characterizes silent myocardial infarction. Two distinct pilot studies were conducted under stressful and non-stressful environmental conditions, with the overall aim of investigating whether interoceptive abilities, assessed via self-report measures and the heartbeat counting task, 2024 APS Abstract System 08/09/23, 09:21 https://apps.psychosomatic.org/abstracts/?page=custom/view Pagina 2 di 2 may modulate this phenomenon, known as BP-related hypoalgesia. The first study (n = 27 normotensive participants) showed a significant moderation effect of interoception (b = -3.94, SE = 1.81, t = -2.18, p = 0.04, 95% CI[-7.69, -0.19]), according to which individuals characterized by low-to-moderate accuracy in perceiving their own heartbeat exhibited a positive correlation between BP levels and pain thresholds, while this pattern was not observed in participants with high interoceptive abilities. The second study expanded upon these findings by examining a sample of unmedicated borderline hypertensive (n = 20) and age and sex-matched normotensive individuals (n = 20) and added a stress-inducing virtual reality paradigm which yielded a significant Group by Condition interaction (F = 12.02, p = .001). Borderline hypertensives and controls had opposite reactions to the stressor: in the first group pain threshold increased, in the second it decreased. Notably, pain threshold was significantly associated with (self-reported and behavioural) interoceptive abilities only in normotensives (ps < .03). If replicated, current results point to the possibility to reduce the additional cardiovascular risk posed by BP-related hypoalgesia by developing ad hoc interventions aimed at enhancing interoceptive awareness in hypertensive individuals.
Examining the role of interoceptive abilities in blood pressure-related hypoalgesia / Ottaviani, C.; Salaris, A.; Provenzano, L.; Al-Naqshbandi, H.; Yucel, S.; Basile, B.; Calcagnini, G.; Matti, E.; Porciello, G.. - (2024). (Intervento presentato al convegno APS Annual Meeting tenutosi a Brighton, UK).
Examining the role of interoceptive abilities in blood pressure-related hypoalgesia
Ottaviani C.;Salaris A.;Provenzano L.;Al-Naqshbandi H.;Yucel S.;Calcagnini G.;Porciello G.
2024
Abstract
It is well established that pain perception is reduced during spontaneously occurring and experimentally induced episodes of high blood pressure (BP), and this is a clinically relevant phenomenon that interferes with the early detection of the chest pain that characterizes silent myocardial infarction. Two distinct pilot studies were conducted under stressful and non-stressful environmental conditions, with the overall aim of investigating whether interoceptive abilities, assessed via self-report measures and the heartbeat counting task, 2024 APS Abstract System 08/09/23, 09:21 https://apps.psychosomatic.org/abstracts/?page=custom/view Pagina 2 di 2 may modulate this phenomenon, known as BP-related hypoalgesia. The first study (n = 27 normotensive participants) showed a significant moderation effect of interoception (b = -3.94, SE = 1.81, t = -2.18, p = 0.04, 95% CI[-7.69, -0.19]), according to which individuals characterized by low-to-moderate accuracy in perceiving their own heartbeat exhibited a positive correlation between BP levels and pain thresholds, while this pattern was not observed in participants with high interoceptive abilities. The second study expanded upon these findings by examining a sample of unmedicated borderline hypertensive (n = 20) and age and sex-matched normotensive individuals (n = 20) and added a stress-inducing virtual reality paradigm which yielded a significant Group by Condition interaction (F = 12.02, p = .001). Borderline hypertensives and controls had opposite reactions to the stressor: in the first group pain threshold increased, in the second it decreased. Notably, pain threshold was significantly associated with (self-reported and behavioural) interoceptive abilities only in normotensives (ps < .03). If replicated, current results point to the possibility to reduce the additional cardiovascular risk posed by BP-related hypoalgesia by developing ad hoc interventions aimed at enhancing interoceptive awareness in hypertensive individuals.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
