Central sensitization in breast cancer survivors

Abstract

The goal of this study was to study central sensitization (CS)-related symptoms in breast cancer (BC) survivors and to find if there are differences in clinical and functional variables. In this cross-sectional study, 25 women aged between 32 and 69 years participated. CS pain was measured with the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI). Forty points was considered the cutoff value. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF), Quality of life, functional capacity, and handgrip strength (HGS) was assessed. A 60% of BC survivors showed a CSI score from 0 to 40, while the rest 40% of women had a score higher than 40, CSI scores being 38.35 ± 14.54 points in the whole sample. Significant differences were found in functional capacity, CRF and QoL (p < .011). However, there were no differences in HGS (p = .089). This is the first study to report BC survivors CS-related symptoms. The high CS-related symptoms group showed differences in some symptoms and functional capacity in this population. Future research including a wider sample and more variables related to pain should be carried out.