Neuropathic pain and psychological morbidity in patients with treated leprosy: a cross-sectional prevalence study in Mumbai.

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 neu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Estrella Lasry-Levy, Aki Hietaharju, Vivek Pai, Ramaswamy Ganapati, Andrew S C Rice, Maija Haanpää, Diana N J Lockwood
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Subjects:
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Arctic
Bombay
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000981
https://doaj.org/article/281af744d4de4d92ba9bdab7fc5b64b9
Description
Summary: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.

Similar Items