우울증환자와 그 일차가족에서의 통각예민도

Pain Sensitivity in the Depressed Patients and Their First Degree Relatives

Pain sensitivity in terms of pain threshold and pain tolerance was measured by submaxium effort tourniquet technique in 20 females with major depression according to the DSM-III, 20 of their female first degree relatives without depression and 17 normal healthy females without family history of depression. The results are summarized as follows. 1) The pain threshold and tolerance of the depressed patients were significantly higher than those of the normal controls. 2) The pain threshold and tolerance of the first degree relatives of the patient group were also higher than those of the normal controls. 3) No significant difference was noted between the patient group and their first degree relatives. From these results the author suggests that the pain hyposensitivity of the depressives may be a familially aggregated trait, rather than a phenomenon dependent on the state of depression.