Abstract
Background and Objectives: Pain is a multidimensional phenomenon with a wide range regarding the location, intensity and quality. Patients with chronic pain, in particular those suffering from mixed pain, often present a special challenge. The PainDETECT questionnaire (PD-Q) is a screening instrument designed to classify whether a patient has neuropathic pain (NP), often rated as more distressing compared to nociceptive pain. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the PD-Q score correlates with pain intensity, measured with the numeric rating scale (NRS), in chronic pain patients in an outpatient setting. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted to identify the associations between the unidimensional NRS scale for pain intensity and the PD-Q score for screening of an NP component in an outpatient setting. Participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire themselves. Results: One hundred seventy-six participants completed the PD-Q questionnaire and rated pain on the NRS scale at the baseline visit. The PD-Q and NRS scores significantly correlated at the baseline visit and the 1-month follow-up visit in chronic pain patients. The identification of a neuropathic component in chronic pain may permit more targeted and effective pain management. Conclusions: The findings of our questionnaire suggest that a significant proportion of chronic pain patients had manifested features of NP at the first visit to the outpatient clinic. The PD-Q is a useful screening tool to alert clinicians of NP that may need further diagnostic evaluation or therapeutic intervention and may also help to predict treatment response. Further research is needed to investigate if a correlation is predictive of treatment response when pain therapy targets NP.
Highlights
Pain represents a major clinical, social and economic problem
The PainDETECT questionnaire (PD-Q) is a screening instrument designed to classify whether a patient has neuropathic pain (NP), often rated as more distressing compared to nociceptive pain
In the group of patients under anti-neuropathic therapy, we found no significant correlation between the three numeric rating scale (NRS) subgroup scores and the PD-Q score at the baseline visit
Summary
Pain represents a major clinical, social and economic problem. Chronic pain is a multidimensional phenomenon with a wide range regarding the location, intensity and quality. Epidemiological surveys reported that a large proportion of chronic pain patients, ones with neuropathic symptoms, is not treated appropriately [1,2,3] This may be caused by a lack of diagnostic screening tools, limitations in diagnostic accuracy or insufficient knowledge about effective drugs and their appropriate use in pain therapy regimes. Most patients suffering from NP report severe, chronic symptoms, often difficult to manage in conventional pain therapy. This has a considerable impact on quality of life, causing major suffering and disability. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted to identify the associations between the unidimensional NRS scale for pain intensity and the PD-Q score for screening of an NP component in an outpatient setting.
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