• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Features
  • Campus News
  • CSUDH.edu
  • Contact
  • People
    • Staff Spotlight
    • Faculty Highlights
    • Alumni
  • Magazine
  • For Journalists
    • CSUDH In The News
    • Press Releases
    • Facts and Figures
    • Find Media Experts
    • Gallery

CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

You are here: Home / Archive / Features / Scott Cheatham’s Research May Help Doctors Get More in Touch with Patients’ Pain

Scott Cheatham’s Research May Help Doctors Get More in Touch with Patients’ Pain

September 8, 2016

Scott CheathamIf all goes well, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Scott Cheatham’s research could open doors for new methods of examining people who suffer from fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome—two chronic conditions that cause widespread pain in the muscles and tissues of the body—and related issues such as fatigue.

For over a year, Cheatham, who serves as director of Cal State Dominguez Hills’ Pre-Physical Therapy Program, studied more than 90 individuals with fibromyalgia and myofascial pain.

Normally, a doctor will apply a self-prescribed amount of pressure to a body region using touch, then document the patient’s reaction to the graded pressure. With Cheatham’s new scale, doctors would still use touch to examine a patient, but instead would rank the patient’s level of discomfort ranging from 0 to 4, which is displayed on the scale. This enables doctors to quantify the level of the discomfort and use it as a means to retest the patient in future visits.

“For the study, we utilized a computerized thumb sensor to measure the amount of pressure applied, which helped the researcher gauge their pressure in real time,” Cheatham explains. “This was the first time this technology had been used with these patients, which helped to further validate the scale.”

A researcher, practitioner, and expert consultant for various organizations and government agencies, Cheatham believes his new method will enhance the standard examination process used to diagnose fibromyalgia, which was developed by The American College of Rheumatology in the 1990s. His approach would allow practitioners the ability to more accurately rank a patient’s pain level, which will help guide examination and treatment.

“No tool can replace the touch of a hand,” says Cheatham (’97, B.A. physical education), who after graduating from CSUDH went on to earn two doctorates, a D.P.T. and a Ph.D. in physical therapy. “However, if we can objectify the examination process with a scale, then we may be more accurate with our diagnosis. This scale may help standardize how patients are examined, which may make us better doctors and educators.”

When a patient is in a lot of pain it’s a challenge to examine them due to their low tolerance and sensitivity to touch,” he adds. “The scale enables doctors to step out of the box and measure their examination findings in a different way.”

Cheatham’s motivation for conducting the study was his mother, who has suffered from fibromyalgia for over 20 years.

“People with these chronic conditions have limited function due to the wide-spread pain that they suffer from,” says Cheatham, who added that in some patients the extreme pain fibromyalgia causes can lead to severe functional deficits. “While growing up, my mother was an enthusiastic teacher and educator. During her 40s, she began to suffer with muscle pain and fatigue that eventually led to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. So I watched her go from being this vibrant educator to a state where she can’t really do much because of her pain.”

To conduct his study, Cheatham reached out to the CSUDH campus community and fibromyalgia community groups in Southern California to find participants.

“I want to help find a cure for these chronic conditions and also help educate people. This study wouldn’t have occurred without all the wonderful study participants. I am grateful for their willingness to help,” Cheatham says. “There is still a lot we don’t know about fibromyalgia, but I think we’re one step closer with the Pressure Pain Threshold Scale, because now there is something that’s valid and useful for future studies.”

This story first appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of the university magazine, Dominguez Today.

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Faculty, Kinesiology

Recent Features

CSUDH Mental Health Resources Expand and Adapt

CSUDH Mental Health Resources Expand and Adapt

May 11, 2022

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing hardships, college students were not immune to the nation’s widespread rise in mental health issues. Studies from the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) found that pre-COVID, one in four young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 had a diagnosable mental ... Read More

2022 Faculty Awards Reception

2022 Faculty Awards Honor Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service

May 4, 2022

2022 Faculty Excellence Recipients CSUDH honored five faculty members during the 2022 Faculty Awards Reception on May 3 for their excellence in teaching and research, their contributions to university governance and development, and for the role non-tenure track faculty play in student achievement. Watch the event ... Read More

CSUDH Biology Professor Recognized for Research

CSUDH Biology Professor Recognized for Research

April 13, 2022

CSUDH Associate Professor of Biology Sonal Singhal has been honored by the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) for her research work on lizard speciation. Her paper “Strong Selection Against Hybrids Maintains a Narrow Contact Zone Between Morphologically Cryptic Lineages in a Rainforest Lizard” was named one of ... Read More

... see all Featured Stories

Footer

California State University, Dominguez Hills Logo

1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747
1-310-243-2001 • Send Email

Related Sites

  • csudh.edu
  • magazine.csudh.edu
  • gotoros.com

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get CSUDH News directly in your inbox

Copyright © 2022 · California State University, Dominguez Hills