Table 2.
Pain severity and clinical characteristics of the herpes zoster patients at initial visit.
| Characteristics | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Severity of HZ pain | N1 = 362 | |
| No or mild | 43 | 11.9 |
| Moderate | 157 | 43.4 |
| Severe | 162 | 44.7 |
| Among patients having had symptoms before rash onset | N2 = 288 | |
| Prodromal pain | 238 | 82.6 |
| Malaise | 84 | 29.2 |
| Fever | 17 | 5.9 |
| Other symptoms - non-painful | 31 | 10.7 |
| Other symptoms – painful | 3 | 1.0 |
| Patients with co-morbidities at initial visit | N3 = 128 | |
| Most frequent pre-existing conditions (>5% of those with such conditions) | ||
| Diabetes mellitus | 46 | 35.9 |
| Current emotional problems, stress or depression | 41 | 32.0 |
| Patients under immunological treatment | N = 25 | |
| Oral or parenteral corticosteroids | 16 | 64.0 |
HZ = Herpes zoster; n = Number of patients concerned; N1 = For 29 patients, the initial pain assessment was missing; N2 = The number of patients with symptoms before rash onsets; N3 = The number of patients with co-morbidities.