Table 3.
Summary of Various Neuropathic Pain Questionnaires
| NPQ [38] | DN4 [39] | LANSS [40] | ID pain [41] | painDETECT [42] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Burning × 0.006 | Question 1a | Pain questionnaires | 1. Pins and needles (Yes: 1, No: 0) | 1. Grading of pain (0: never, 1: hardly, 2: slightly, 3: moderately, 4: strongly, or 5: very strongly noticed) |
| 2. Overly sensitive to touch × 0.005 | 1. Burning | 1. Dysesthesia (Yes: 5, No: 0) | 2. Hot/burning sensation (Yes: 1, No: 0) | 2. The pain course pattern (0: persistent pain with slight fluctuations, –1: persistent pain with pain attacks, +1: persistent pain without pain between attacks, or +1: persistent pain with pain between attacks) |
| 3. Shooting pain × 0.005 | 2. Painful cold | 2. Color change of the skin in the painful area (Yes: 5, No: 0) | 3. Numbness (Yes: 1, No: 0) | 3. Radiating pain (+2: yes, or 0: no) |
| 4. Numbness × 0.020 | 3. Electric shocks | 3. Abnormal sensitivity to touch in the affected skin (Yes: 3, No: 0) | Electric shocks (Yes: 1, No: 0) | The total score varies from 0 to 8. |
| 5. Electric pain × –0.008 | Question 2a | 4. Abnormal skin temperature change in the painful area (Yes: 2, No: 0) | Worsening with touch (Yes: 1, No: 0) | |
| 6. Tingling × 0.010 | 4. Tingling | 5. Abnormal skin temperature change (Yes: 1, No: 0) | Limited to the joints (Yes: –1, No: 0) | |
| 7. Squeezing × –0.004 | 5. Pins and needles | The sensory testing | The total score varies from –1 to 5. | |
| 8. Freezing × 0.004 | 6. Numbness | 1. Allodynia (Yes: 5, No: 0) | ||
| 9. Unpleasant × 0.006 | 7. Itching | 2. An altered pin-prick threshold (Yes: 3, No: 0) | ||
| 10. Overwhelming × –0.003 | The total score varies from 0 to 24. | |||
| 11. Tactile hyperalgesia × 0.006 | Question 3b | If the score < 12, neuropathic mechanisms are unlikely to be contributing to the patient’s pain. | ||
| 12. Increased pain due to weather changes × –0.005 | 8. Hypoesthesia to touch | If the score ≥ 12, neuropathic mechanisms are likely to be contributing to the patient’s pain. | ||
| If the total score minus 1.408 is below 0, it predicts non-neuropathic pain. | 9. Hypoesthesia to pinprick | |||
| On the contrary, if the total score minus 1.408 is at or above 0, it predicts neuropathic pain. | Question 4b | |||
| 10. Pain caused by or increased by brushing | ||||
| Yes = 1, No = 0 | ||||
| Patient’s score = □/10 |
NPQ: neuropathic pain questionnaire, DN4: douleur neuropathique en 4, LANSS: Leeds assessment of neuropathic symptoms and signs.
a
From interview of the patient. bFrom examination of the patient.