Recalling the painful experience during a colonoscopy: pain expectation and variability

This study investigated the relationship between participants’ expected levels of pain intensity before a colonoscopy, pain intensity experienced while they were undergoing this medical procedure (real-time pain), and their retrospective evaluation of this experience. Results confirmed that the variability of the real-time pain distribution was a significant predictor of the accuracy of recall. Moreover,participants’ pain expectations preceding the examination were a significant predictor of the accuracy of recall. It was further demonstrated that the effect of patients’ expectations on the discrepancy was mediated by the real-time pain variability