Reconhecimento de faces de alegria e dor, capacidade atencional e variabilidade da frequência cardíaca em mulheres com fibromialgia

• Autor(a) principal: Fernandes, Ana Mércia Barbosa Leite
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFPB
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/8662
• topic: Fibromialgia; Dor; Expressão facial; Variabilidade da frequência cardíaca; Pain; Facial expression; Heart rate variability; Fibromyalgia; CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain that predominantly affects women between 40-55 years of age. The presence of tender points, fatigue, changes in sleep quality, cognitive deficits, autonomic dysfunction, anxiety and depression are commonly associated with the disease. These changes may affect the processing of information and recognition of facial expressions of emotion. Objective: To evaluate the Reaction Time (RT) responses to dynamic facial expressions of happiness and pain and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in women with FM, controls and students. The perception of pain, symptoms of depression and anxiety, attention span and mental flexibility were also assessed. Methods: 90 subjects participated in the study, 30 patients with FM, 28 adult women without chronic pain (control group) and 32 university students. We used the E-Prime software program to present happy and painful faces (4 female and 4 male), and we registered responses using a response box (SRBox) with lateralized keys. Each subject performed four blocks counterbalanced with 16 training stimuli and 80 faces each, identifying the expression of each face (happy or pain). Pain intensity was assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), depression and anxiety by BDI and BAI (Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory) and attention by the Trail Making Test (TMT). For the measurement of HRV, we used a Polar RS800CX heart rate monitor, captured by Polar Pro Trainer 5 software and evaluated with the Kubios program. Results: ANOVA for repeated measures and post hoc Bonferroni analysis showed that the fibromyalgia group had greater TR compared to other groups (p <0.001). Control groups and students were not different (p = 0.112). There was no difference between the emotions of happy and pain. Regarding female faces, they took longer (M = 718 ms) to be recognized when compared to male faces (M = 705 ms). There was also interaction between the type of face and the gender of faces (p <0.001), and the male faces had pain identified more quickly than female pain. TR was positively correlated with TMT in FM and control group. There was no correlation between TR and HRV in the three groups (p> 0.05). HRV was not different between FM and controls, but measures of RMSSD, SD1, SD2 and LF were lower in FM than in the students’ group (p <0.05). HRV was negatively correlated with the VAS when the groups were analyzed together. Conclusion: cognitive deficits related to reduced ability to maintain attention can reduce the motor front response to facial expressions. Male faces with pain facilitate motor behavior, perhaps, could be considered potentially threatening situations. The lower the perception of pain intensity was, the more efficient autonomic regulation was, as indicated by heart rate variability indices. Other studies, however, are needed to better understand the assessment of pain and changes in HRV in patients with chronic pain, especially for those with fibromyalgia.