The Influence of Executive Functioning on Facial and Subjective Pain Responses in Older Adults

Table 1

Observation of facial items within the painful trials (400 kPa) in 51 participants. Selection of pain-indicative items was based on frequency of occurrence (>5%) as well as on a more frequent occurrence during pain compared to baseline (effect size ).

Facial items	Percentage of occurrence	Effect size; (Cohen’s )
Pained expression	11.8	d = 0.44
Frowning	12.8
Narrowing eyes	17.3
Closing eyes	5.0	d = 0.25
Raising upper lip	16.7
Opened mouth	33.3
Tightened lips	19.6
Clenched teeth	<5%	—
Empty gaze	50.0	d = 0.32
Seeming disinterested	<5%	—
Pale face	<5%	—
Teary eyed	<5%	—
Looking tense	12.8
Looking sad	<5%	—
Looking frightened	<5%	—

Percentage refers to the percentage of occurrence within the painful (400 kPa) trials. Effect sizes for frequency differences between “baseline” and “400 kPa” trials are given. Medium and strong effect sizes () are marked in bold.