Cross-sectional evaluation of patient functioning and health-related quality of

April 5, 2006

Eur J Pain. 2006 Mar 22

Cross-sectional evaluation of patient functioning and health-related

quality of life in patients with neuropathic pain under standard care

conditions.

Galvez R, Marsal C, Vidal J, Ruiz M, Rejas J.

Pain and Palliative Care Unit, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las

Nieves, Unidad de dolor y Cuidados Paliativos, Avda de las Fuerzas

Armadas, 2, 18014 Granada, Spain.

AIM: The purpose of this cross-sectional evaluation was to determine

the impact of neuropathic pain (NeP) on patient functioning and

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) under standard care

conditions.

METHODS: Patients with NeP or neuropathic and nociceptive pain [Mixed

Pain (MP)] enrolled in the DONEGA study, a naturalistic, prospective

and multi-centre study of the effectiveness of gabapentin under usual

care conditions, were included in this cross-sectional evaluation

before starting study treatments. Participants completed the Short

Form-McGill Pain Questionnaire, MOS Short Form-12 (SF-12), and

Sheehan Disability Scale (ShDS). Multivariate analysis and regression

models were used to analyze patient data.

RESULTS: A total of 1519 patients [mean+/-SD; 56.0+/-13.7 yrs old

(58.8% female)] with NeP or MP were enrolled in the study. The mean

pain history was 1.1+/-2.8 yrs, current pain intensity on a 5-point

visual analogue scale was 2.8+/-1.0 and mean pain in previous week

was 71.3+/-19.0mm. Pain substantially interfered (i.e., score5 on 0-

10 scale) with normal work (5.9+/-3.0), social life (5.7+/-3.0), and

family life (5.3+/-3.0), producing substantial disability (total ShDS

score of 16.9+/-8.3 pts). Country-standardised physical (PCS) and

mental health (MCS) component summary scores of SF-12 indicated

significant impairment in both domains compared with the general

Spanish population: PCS; -1.13+/-1.0 SDS (standard deviation score),

and MCS; -1.21+/-0.7 SDS, equivalent to the 15th and 25th percentiles

of normative populations, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Under standard care conditions, neuropathic and mixed

pain are associated with impaired physical and mental QoL, producing

a substantial level of disability in these patients.

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