Table 2.
Gender differences in percentages of subjects who chose each pain descriptor and gender differences in mean pain descriptor intensitiesa
| Descriptor | Men (%) | Women (%) | χ2 Value | P-value | Men [mean (SD)] | Women [mean (SD)] | t-value | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Throbbing | 34.1 | 35.9 | 00.039 | 0.844 | 0.64 (0.98) | 0.69 (1.03) | –0.291 | 0.770 |
| Shooting | 30.7 | 31.6 | 00.010 | 0.920 | 0.59 (0.97) | 0.39 (0.64) | –1.146 | 0.250 |
| Stabbing | 33.0 | 28.2 | 00.283 | 0.595 | 0.64 (1.00) | 0.51 (0.94) | –0.655 | 0.510 |
| Sharp | 56.2 | 53.8 | 00.060 | 0.807 | 1.10 (1.11) | 0.90 (0.97) | 0.933 | 0.320 |
| Cramping | 29.2 | 15.4 | 02.766 | 0.096 | 0.51 (0.87) | 0.31 (0.80) | 1.216 | 0.230 |
| Gnawing | 25.8 | 23.1 | 00.111 | 0.739 | 0.36 (0.68) | 0.41 (0.85) | –0.360 | 0.720 |
| Hot-burning | 30.3 | 61.5 | 11.014 | 0.001 | 0.58 (1.00) | 1.36 (1.25) | –3.431 | 0.001 |
| Aching | 74.2 | 76.9 | 00.111 | 0.739 | 1.43 (1.04) | 1.59 (1.09) | –0.801 | 0.430 |
| Heavy | 70.8 | 66.7 | 00.217 | 0.641 | 1.48 (1.12) | 1.46 (1.14) | –0.100 | 0.920 |
| Tender | 11.2 | 30.8 | 07.269 | 0.007 | 0.18 (0.53) | 0.51 (0.91) | –2.122 | 0.039 |
| Splitting | 15.9 | 23.1 | 00.936 | 0.333 | 0.27 (0.69) | 0.41 (0.85) | –0.963 | 0.337 |
| Tiring-exhausting | 70.8 | 76.9 | 00.514 | 0.473 | 1.48 (1.16) | 1.77 (1.22) | –1.264 | 0.209 |
| Sickening | 33.0 | 42.1 | 00.968 | 0.325 | 0.55 (0.90) | 0.82 (1.11) | –1.443 | 0.152 |
| Fearful | 45.5 | 51.3 | 00.368 | 0.544 | 0.81 (1.06) | 1.05 (1.17) | –1.162 | 0.248 |
| Punishing-cruel | 20.2 | 23.1 | 00.133 | 0.716 | 0.34 (0.74) | 0.59 (1.14) | –1.497 | 0.137 |
a
Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation. The words throbbing through splitting were sensory descriptors. The words tiring-exhausting, sickening, fearful, and punishing-cruel were affective descriptors.