An assessment of sensory sensitivity in women suffering from depression using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

PeerJ

article

Joanna Witkoś¹  Agnieszka Fusińska-Korpik¹  Magdalena Hartman-Petrycka³  Agnieszka Nowak² 

[1]Medicine and Health Science, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University

[2]Józef Babiński Clinical Hospital in Krakow

[3]Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia

关键词: Sensory sensitivity;    Perception;    Depression;    Women;    Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation;    Electrotherapy treatment;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13373

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPerception is the process or result of the process arising from the mental interpretation of the phenomena occurring, therefore it depends not only on physiology, but is also psychologically and socially conditioned. The aim of this study was to assess if there is a difference in the sensory sensitivity to an electrical stimulus in women suffering from depression and what the hedonic rating is of the lived experience of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.MethodsThe depression group: 44 women, who were inpatients treated for depression at the Psychiatric Ward in the Clinical Hospital, and the control group: 41 women, matched by the age, height and weight, with no mental illness. Measures: threshold for sensing current, type of sensation evoked, hedonic rating.ResultsMedian sensing threshold of electric current (depression vs. control: 7.75 mA vs. 8.35 mA; no significant), type of sensation evoked (depression vs. control: tingling 90.9% vs. 92.7%, no significant), hedonic rating (depression vs. control: unpleasant 11.4% vs. 2.4%; p = 0.003), hedonic rating (mildly ill vs. moderately ill vs. markedly ill: unpleasant 5.3% vs. 6.3% vs. 33.3%; p = 0.066).ConclusionsWomen suffering from depression exhibit a similar threshold of sensitivity to an electrical stimulus as mentally healthy women, however the hedonic rating of the stimulus acting on the skin in the group of clinically depressed women was more negative than in the mentally healthy subjects. The stimulus was described as ‘unpleasant’ for many of the mentally unhealthy women. The most negative sensations related to the electrical stimulus were experienced by women with the highest severity of mental illness according to The Clinical Global Impression - Severity Scale.

【 授权许可】

CC BY