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Table 2 Sensory function in the right foot of 15 falanga (F) and 17 no falanga (NF) torture victims and 14 healthy controls (C) (mean, SD, 95% CI, median and range for eight QST variables)

From: Sensory functions in the foot soles in victims of generalized torture, in victims also beaten under the feet (falanga) and in healthy controls – A blinded study using quantitative sensory testing

Right foot

MDT

CDT

WDT

CPT

HPT

PPT

Wind-up mm

Wind-up mm

 

target force g

°C

°C

°C

°C

kPa

at 0.3 Hz

at 1.0 Hz

 

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

 

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

 

CI

CI

CI

CI

CI

CI

CI

CI

 

Median

Median

Median

Median

Median

Median

Median

Median

 

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

(Range)

Falanga n=15

5.66

25.2

43.2

19.1

47.0

252

16

29

 

15.22

4.8

4.9

9.2

4.6

206

20

23

 

−2.77–14.09

22.5–27.9

40.5–45.9

14.0–24.2

44.5–49.6

138–365

4–28

16–43

 

1.00

27.0

44.5

21.7

49.9

181

10

27

 

(0.16–60.00)

(14.4–30.7)

(35.5–50.0)

(0–29.2)

(37.9-50.0)

(19–833)

(−3–72)

(0–82)

No Falanga n=17

3.71

22.5

44.2

15.3

48.9

275

5

27

 

4.62

7.7

4.7

9.7

1.8

205

8

18

 

1.33–6.09

18.4–26.5

41.7–46.7

9.9–20.6

47.9–49.9

169–380

1–9

17–36

 

1.00

24.8

44.6

18.5

50.0

214

2

35

 

(0.07–15.00)

(0–29.4)

(34.0–50.0)

(0–26.3)

(44.3–50.0)

(98–818)

(−4–23)

(0–51)

Controls n=14

0.41

28.0

40.1

18.2

46.7

485

17

30

 

0.35

2.4

2.8

8.3

2.5

179

14

19

 

0.21–0.61

26.6–29.4

38.5–41.7

13.5–23.0

45.3–48.2

381–588

9–25

18–41

 

0.28

28.8

40.3

21.2

46.8

460

17

28

 

(0.07–1.00)

(20.9–30.1)

(35.3–43.3)

(2.6–27.7)

(42.4–50.0)

(240–912)

(−3–45)

(0–62)

ANOVA p-value

0.010 *

0.019

0.030

0.505

0.150

0.005

0.050

0.924

Tukeys post hoc test F/NF

0.880 *

0.278

0.791

0.507

0.264

0.941

0.122

0.949

F/C

0.043 *

0.361

0.128

0.967

0.964

0.008

0.970

0.999

NF/C

0.011 *

0.014

0.027

0.673

0.176

0.014

0.067

0.930

  1. MDT, mechanical detection threshold; g, gram; CDT, cold detection threshold; WDT, warm detection threshold; CPT, cold pain threshold; HPT, heat pain threshold; PPT, pressure pain threshold; kPa, kiloPascal; Wind-up mm at 0.3 Hz (mean pre/post difference in pain intensity VAS mm after wind-up stimulation at 0.3 Hz); Wind-up mm at 1.0 Hz (mean pre/post difference in pain intensity VAS mm after wind-up stimulation at 1.0 Hz); * calculated on log MDT.