Table 2 Comparison of sociodemographic, psychological, PPTs, and cognitive variables between young and elderly adults.
From: Effects of aging on experimentally induced pain perception during a distraction task
Young subjects (n = 26) | Elderly subjects (n = 33) | χ2 | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | |||
Sex* | 5.9 | 0.01 | ||
Male | 6 (23.1%) | 18 (54.5%) | ||
Female | 20 (76.9%) | 15 (45.5%) | ||
Marital status** | 59.0 | 0.001 | ||
Single | 26 (100%) | 0 (0%) | ||
Married | 0 (0%) | 25 (75.8%) | ||
Divorced | 0 (0%) | 4 (12.1%) | ||
Widowed | 0 (0%) | 4 (12.1%) | ||
Educational level** | 11.4 | 0.001 | ||
Primary | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | ||
Secondary | 25 (96.2%) | 19 (57.6%) | ||
Higher education | 1 (3.8%) | 13 (39.4%) | ||
Employment status** | 55.7 | 0.001 | ||
Student | 25 (96.2%) | 0 (0%) | ||
Working | 1 (3.8%) | 4 (12.1%) | ||
Unemployed | 0 (0%) | 28 (84.8%) | ||
Retired | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | ||
Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | t | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age** | 20.0 (1.6) | 68.0 (3.8) | − 65.7 | 0.001 |
Anxiety (HADS-A, 0–21)* | 7.6 (3.4) | 5.6 (2.8) | 2.5 | 0.01 |
Depression (HADS-D, 0–21) | 3.6 (2.6) | 2.8 (2.2) | 1.1 | 0.23 |
Pain catastrophizing (PCS, 0–52) | 16.5 (8.3) | 15.2 (9.6) | 0.52 | 0.60 |
Pain anxiety (PASS-20, 0–100)** | 32.1 (12.3) | 23.3 (10.4) | 2.9 | 0.001 |
Sleep quality (PSQI, 0–21) | 7.8 (3.0) | 7.0 (3.7) | 0.79 | 0.42 |
Mental inhibition (Inhibiting_FDT) | 17.8 (8.8) | 16.4 (5.4) | 0.74 | 0.45 |
Cognitive flexibility (Shifting_FDT) | 26.2 (13.3) | 29.7 (8.4) | − 1.2 | 0.21 |
Selective attention (D2_TOT)** | 466.8 (52.0) | 333.5 (70.4) | 8.0 | 0.001 |
Working memory (D/R/I digits) | 25.3 (5.5) | 22.9 (5.4) | 1.6 | 0.10 |
PPTs C5-C6 (kPa)** | 172.5 (60.7) | 259.0 (71.6) | − 4.6 | 0.001 |
PPTs Tibialis anterior (kPa)** | 390.9 (136.9) | 573.0 (216.6) | − 3.6 | 0.001 |
PPTs Hand (kPa)** | 246.8 (68.5) | 349.2 (106.3) | − 3.9 | 0.001 |
