Geisser, Michael E, Gracely, Richard H, Giesecke, Thorsten et al. · European journal of pain (London, England) · 2007 · DOI
Researchers tested whether laboratory pain tests (using heat and pressure) could predict the pain people with fibromyalgia and ME/CFS experience in daily life. They found that pressure-based tests were better predictors of real-world pain than heat tests, suggesting that pressure stimulation may be a more useful research tool for studying pain in these conditions.
Understanding which laboratory pain tests best mirror real-world clinical pain is crucial for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia research, as it helps researchers choose more valid experimental models. This improves the relevance of mechanistic studies and may accelerate discovery of underlying pain mechanisms in these conditions.
This study does not establish causation or explain *why* pressure stimulation correlates better with clinical pain than heat stimulation. It also does not validate these experimental models as diagnostic tools, nor does it demonstrate that these pain mechanisms are unique to FM and CFS or that treating experimental pain sensitivity will improve clinical outcomes.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Geisser, Michael E, Gracely, Richard H, Giesecke, Thorsten, Petzke, Frank W, Williams, David A, & Clauw, Daniel J (2007). The association between experimental and clinical pain measures among persons with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.. European journal of pain (London, England). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpain.2006.02.001
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-geisser-2007-association-between,
author = {Geisser, Michael E and Gracely, Richard H and Giesecke, Thorsten and Petzke, Frank W and Williams, David A and Clauw, Daniel J},
title = {The association between experimental and clinical pain measures among persons with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {European journal of pain (London, England)},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1016/j.ejpain.2006.02.001},
note = {PubMed: 16546424},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/geisser-2007-association-between},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/geisser-2007-association-between
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