Table 2.
Patient and Psychosocial Characteristics of Small Fiber Neuropathy Patients (N = 21)
| Sociodemographic Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| N (%) | |
| Gender, female, n (%) | 16 (76.2) |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 48.24 (13.89) |
| Marital status, n (%) | |
| Relationship | 14 (66.6) |
| No relationship | 7 (33.4) |
| Employment, n (%) | |
| Unemployed | 11 (52.4) |
| Employed (paid) | 10 (47.6) |
| SFN characteristics | |
| Decreased IENFD in skin biopsy (%) | 20 (95.2) |
| Abnormal QST (%) | 14 (66.7) |
| SFN duration (years) | 2.71 (2.80) |
| Psychosocial characteristics | |
| PCS, total score, mean (SD)* (0–52) | 18.48 (11.90) |
| HADS, subscale anxiety, mean (SD)^ (0–21) | 7.71 (4.44) |
| HADS, subscale depression, mean (SD)^ (0–21) | 7.90 (3.55) |
| SF-12, subscale general total health#(0–100) | 11.00 (2.17) |
| SF-12, subscale mental health# (0–100) | 27.29 (4.43) |
| SF-12, subscale physical functioning# (0–100) | 16.29 (3.55) |
| SFN-RODS, mean (SD)$ (0–100) | 66.18 (16.66) |
| SFN-SIQ (CM), mean (SD)+ (0–100) | 49.71 (9.12) |
Notes: *a higher score indicates more catastrophic thoughts, ^score between 0–7 is normal, 8–10 is borderline, ≥11 is abnormal, #a higher score indicates a lower QOL, $a higher score indicates more physical disability, +a higher score indicates more autonomic complaints.
Abbreviations: n, number; SD, standard deviation; SFN, small fiber neuropathy; IENFD, intra-epidermal nerve fiber density; QST, quantitative sensory testing; PCS, Pain catastrophizing scale; HADS, Hospital anxiety and depression scale; SF-12, short form 12 questions; PIPS, Psychological inflexibility in pain scale; SFN-RODS, SFN specific Rasch-built overall disability scale; SFN-SIQ, SFN specific symptom inventory questionnaire; CM, centile metric.