Validation of self report version of the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs score for identification of neuropathic pain in patients from northern Turkey.

BACKGROUND

Diagnosis and treatment of neuropathic pain is an important clinical problem.

OBJECTIVES

A self report version of the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) score provides identification of neuropathic pain without the help and need of a clinician. We targeted validation of the S-LANSS score in the northern Turkish population in this study.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

For the linguistic validation of S-LANSS, translation and back-translation method was used to adapt S-LANSS into Turkish and a cognitive-debriefing test was performed. A total of 148 patients were enrolled in the present study. S-LANSS, The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS), Visual Annalogue Score (VAS) and Neuropathic Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) were performed twice for every patient. The patients were examined and diagnosed as having nociceptive or neuropathic pain by neurologists, who were blind for S-LANSS, LANSS and NPQ scores of the patients.

RESULTS

Results of the McNemar test indicated that S-LANSS scores were reliable when the first and the second scores were compared. The sensitivity and specificity of the scale were found to be 98% and 97% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We believe that using S-LANSS scores for the diagnosis of neuropathic pain may help our colleagues as a tool for a quicker differential diagnosis of pain in daily practice.