PhD Defence Niels Jansen | Measurement Concept for the Characterization of the Pain System

Measurement Concept for the Characterization of the Pain System

Niels Jansen is a PhD student in the department Biomedical Signals and Systems. (Co)Promotors are prof.dr.ir. J.R. Buitenweg from the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)  and prof.dr. H.E. Vonkeman from the faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), University of Twente.

Pain is a universal human experience that plays a vital role in protecting the body. However, pain can also persist beyond its protective function, as seen in chronic pain conditions, which poses a significant challenge for individuals and healthcare systems alike. To better understand and manage pain, an important goal in both research and clinical practice is to accurately characterize the pain system. Characterization of the pain system is however challenging, as pain is not solely a physical signal. It emerges through an interplay of bodily processes, personal experiences, thoughts and emotions. As a result, its multidimensional nature makes it difficult to fully understand and particularly challenging to measure.

This dissertation examines commonly used measurement concepts in pain research and clinical practice. Drawing on a series of empirical studies, this work explores the possibility that measurements obtained through these concepts may not map as directly onto specific biological mechanisms as is often assumed. Instead, measurements of the pain system may also be influenced by contextual factors, cognitive processes, and the ways in which individuals interpret sensations and reporting criteria. The research further raises the possibility that different measurement approaches may reflect different aspects of the pain system. For example, some approaches may relate more closely to the sensory-discriminative dimension of pain, while others may capture its emotional-affective dimension. This suggests that different measurements may capture distinct, but complementary, components of the pain experience.

As an end-result, suggestions to the current conceptual model are made which may aid in the (more) effective identification of mechanisms underlying observations made with measurement tools for the characterization of the pain system.