Neuropathic pain and psychological morbidity in patients with treated leprosy: a cross-sectional prevalence study in mumbai
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain has been little studied in leprosy. We assessed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of neuropathic pain and the validity of the Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire as a screening tool for neuropathic pain in patients with treated leprosy. The association of neuropathic pain with psychological morbidity was also evaluated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Adult patients who had completed multi-drug therapy for leprosy were recruited from several Bombay Leprosy Project clinics. Clinical neurological examination, assessment of leprosy affected skin and nerves and pain evaluation were performed for all patients. Patients completed the Douleur Neuropathique 4 and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire to identify neuropathic pain and psychological morbidity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: One hundred and one patients were recruited, and 22 (21.8%) had neuropathic pain. The main sensory symptoms were numbness (86.4%), tingling (68.2%), hypoesthesia to touch (81.2%) and pinprick (72.7%). Neuropathic pain was associated with nerve enlargement and tenderness, painful skin lesions and with psychological morbidity. The Douleur Neuropathique 4 had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 92% in diagnosing neuropathic pain. The Douleur Neuropathique 4 is a simple tool for the screening of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients. Psychological morbidity was detected in 15% of the patients and 41% of the patients with neuropathic pain had psychological morbidity
Date Issued
2011-03-08
Date Acceptance
2011-02-08
Citation
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2011, 5 (3), pp.e981-e981
ISSN
1935-2727
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Start Page
e981
End Page
e981
Journal / Book Title
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Volume
5
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2011 Lasry-Levy et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Identifier
pm:21408111
Subjects
Adult
Assessment
clinical
Evaluation
Hypoesthesia
London
Medicine
nerve
neuropathic
Neuropathic pain
pain
Prevalence
Sensory symptoms
skin
Symptoms
therapy
Touch
United Kingdom
WHO
Notes
DA - 20110316 IS - 1935-2735 (Electronic) IS - 1935-2727 (Linking) LA - eng PT - Journal Article SB - IM
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2011-03-08