Sensitivity to pain and strategies of coping with stress in combat athletes

The aim of the study was to assess the perception of pain (threshold and tolerance to pain of the combat athletes in comparison to those not practicing any sport and checking whether there is a correlation between the pain perception and strategies for coping with stress in both studied groups. The study was conducted on 273 healthy men. The test group consisted of 203 athletes; the control group consisted of 70 students from the Faculty of Physical Culture, University of Szczecin. The test of the threshold and pain tolerance was performed using an algometer manufactured by Quirumed Company. To assess strategies of coping with stress, the Inventory Measuring Coping Skills – Mini-Cope was used. The test results of feeling pain at rest showed that the athletes achieved significantly higher threshold and pain tolerance compared to non-athletes. Contact athletes often deal with the problem in a proactive manner. Compared to the control group, athletes have less sensitivity to pain. Compared with nonathletes, athletes are more likely to cope with stress in an active way and reveal stronger tendency to see positive sides of a problem.