DOLORisk: study protocol for a multi-centre observational study to understand the risk factors and determinants of neuropathic pain
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Neuropathic pain is an increasingly prevalent condition and has a major impact on health and quality of life. However, the risk factors for the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain are poorly understood. Clinical, genetic and psychosocial factors all contribute to chronic pain, but their interactions have not been studied in large cohorts. The DOLORisk study aims to study these factors. Protocol: Multicentre cross-sectional and longitudinal cohorts covering the main causes leading to neuropathic pain (e.g. diabetes, surgery, chemotherapy, traumatic injury), as well as rare conditions, follow a common protocol for phenotyping of the participants. This core protocol correlates answers given by the participants on a set of questionnaires with the results of their genetic analyses. A smaller number of participants undergo deeper phenotyping procedures, including neurological examination, nerve conduction studies, threshold tracking, quantitative sensory testing, conditioned pain modulation and electroencephalography. Ethics and dissemination: All studies have been approved by their regional ethics committees as required by national law. Results are disseminated through the DOLORisk website, scientific meetings, open-access publications, and in partnership with patient organisations. Strengths and limitations: Large cohorts covering many possible triggers for neuropathic pain; Multi-disciplinary approach to study the interaction of clinical, psychosocial and genetic risk factors; High comparability of the data across centres thanks to harmonised protocols; One limitation is that the length of the questionnaires might reduce the response rate and quality of responses of participants.
Date Issued
2019-02-01
Date Acceptance
2019-02-01
Citation
Wellcome Open Research, 2019, 3
ISSN
2398-502X
Publisher
F1000Research
Journal / Book Title
Wellcome Open Research
Volume
3
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Pascal MMV et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30756091
Subjects
diabetes
nerve injury
neuropathic pain
neuropathy
pain
protocol
risk factors
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
63