Table 2.
Population characteristics.
| Group comparison | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total population | Definite SFN | Possible SFN | No SFN | “Definite SFN” and “No SFN” | “Definite SFN” and “Possible SFN” | “No SFN” and “Possible SFN” | |
| n = 245 | n = 102 | n = 53 | n = 90 | ||||
| Age (years) | 50.4 ± 15.0 (11–85) | 55.1 ± 15.5 (11–85) | 46.7 ± 13.6 (21–71) | 47.1 ± 14.0 (18–76) | 0.0003 | 0.001 | 0.85 |
| Gender | |||||||
| Women | 164 (66.9%) | 61 (59.8%) | 35 (66.0%) | 68 (75.6%) | 0.02 | 0.45 | 0.22 |
| Men | 81 (33.1%) | 41 (40.2%) | 18 (34.0%) | 22 (24.4%) | |||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.2 ± 4.8 (15.6–40.4) | 25.1 ± 5.1 (15.6–40.4) | 23.9 ± 5.3 (16–38.6) | 23.4 ± 4.1 (16.8–35.3) | 0.01 | 0.15 | 0.62 |
| Age of symptoms | n = 170 | n = 73 | n = 36 | n = 61 | |||
| <1 year | 29 (17.1%) | 12 (16.4%) | 8 (22.2%) | 10 (16.4%) | 0.18 | ||
| 1–5 years | 93 (54.7%) | 36 (49.3%) | 19 (52.8%) | 38 (62.3%) | 0.45 | 0.64 | |
| > 5 years | 48 (28.2%) | 25 (34.3%) | 9 (25.0%) | 13 (21.3%) | |||
| Symptoms | n = 239 | n = 102 | n = 49 | n = 88 | |||
| Pain | 191 (79.9%) | 88 (86.3%) | 439 (79.6%) | 64 (72.3%) | 0.10* | 0.11* | 0.10* |
| Paraesthesia | 19 (7.9 %) | 8 (6.9%) | 1 (2.0%) | 11 (12.5%) | |||
| Autonomic symptoms | 26 (10.9%) | 5 (4.9%) | 8 (16.3%) | 13 (14.8%) | |||
| Others (restless legs, etc.) | 3 (1.3%) | 2 (2.0%) | 1 (2.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | |||
| Topography of symptoms | n = 212 | n = 94 | n = 44 | n = 74 | |||
| Length-dependent | 116 (54.7%) | 55 (58.5%) | 27 (61.4%) | 34 (46.0%) | 0.11 | 0.75 | 0.11 |
| Non-length-dependent | 96 (45.3%) | 39 (41.5%) | 17 (38.6%) | 40 (54.0%) | |||
| DN4 score | n = 177 | n = 74 | n = 37 | n = 66 | |||
| 4.7 ± 2.0 (0–8) | 4.8 ±2.1 (0–8) | 4.8 ± 2.0 (0–8) | 4.6 ± 2.1 (0–8) | 0.40 | 0.81 | 0.61 | |
| Taking at least one drug that may change the test results | n = 210 | n = 90 | n = 45 | n = 75 | |||
| 59 (28.1%) | 26 (28.9%) | 16 (35.6%) | 17 (22.7%) | 0.36 | 0.43 | 0.13 | |
SFN, Small Fiber Neuropathy; BMI, Body Mass Index. Wilcoxon tests are performed for the comparisons of quantitative variables, and Chi2 tests for qualitative variables.
*
Fisher test.