Sex differences in delayed onset muscle pain.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized comparative cohort study evaluating sex differences following standardized exercise.
PubMed 15722804 · doi:10.1097/00002508-200503000-00002
What was done
Ninety-five participants (49.5% women) performed eccentric exercise calibrated to their individual eccentric strength to achieve identical relative stimulus intensity. Participants were evaluated in the laboratory for delayed onset muscle pain at 24 and 48 hours postexercise using multidimensional pain measures, including pain intensity, unpleasantness, standardized pain ratings, and affective ratios.
What was found
Eccentric exercise induced significant delayed onset muscle pain, with increases in intensity (F2, 182 = 162.28, P < 0.01, eta = 0.64), unpleasantness (F2, 182 = 204.03, P < 0.01, eta = 0.69), and standardized pain ratings (F2, 180 = 67.44, P < 0.01, eta = 0.43). Muscle pain was rated as more unpleasant than intense across the cohort. No sex differences were observed in pain intensity or unpleasantness ratings, though men exhibited higher affective ratios than women (F1, 92 = 4.06, P < 0.05, eta = 0.04).
Why it matters
These findings indicate that when eccentric load is normalized to individual physical strength, women do not exhibit higher delayed onset muscle pain sensitivity than men, challenging assumptions drawn from other acute experimental pain models.
Limits
The abstract does not report baseline physical activity, participant age, or menstrual cycle status. Specific baseline and follow-up absolute score values with dispersion metrics are omitted, providing only test statistics. Measurements were restricted to 24 and 48 hours postexercise.
Cited by
- contradicts Women generally experience less exercise-induced muscle soreness than men, which may be related to estrogen.