Linking Cancer Pain Features and Biosignals for Automatic Pain Assessment

Although pain is a frequent and burdensome symptom in people with cancer, it is commonly evaluated usingself-reported scales that may be unreliable in patients with cognitive, communicative, or clinical limitations. This study explored whether objective physiological signals could enhance cancer pain assessment. We analyzed electrodermal activity and heart rate variability recorded in cancer patients and examined their relationships with pain intensity and pain type. The results indicate that specific electrodermal activity parameters are associated with both pain intensity and distinct pain phenotypes (mainly mixed pain). In contrast, heart rate variability failed to provide meaningful discrimination in this context. Despite limitations, these findings suggest that electrodermal activity may represent a valuable objective marker to complement conventional pain scales and support the development of automated pain assessment approaches in oncology.