title: Sensory testing with monofilaments in Hansen's disease and normal control subjects.
abstract: Sensory testing with Semmes-Weinstein filaments was conducted on: 112 normal subjects to determine the effects of age, gender and occupation on threshold perception, 27 Hansen's disease (HD) patients to determine inter-observer and intra-observer reliability of testing, and 101 patients with HD and a history of hand and/or foot ulceration to identify thresholds for injury risk. Filament thresholds were found related to age (p < 0.002) and occupation (p < 0.001) but not gender (p > 0.1). Inter-observer and intra-observer reliability was found to be high (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.88-0.93). The 4.93 (7.0-7.7 g) filament had 97% sensitivity and 100% specificity for identifying a history of foot injuries, and the 4.17 (1.2-1.6 g) filament had 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity for identifying hand injuries.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Services, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Diabetes Foot Program, 3849 North Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, USA. jirke@lsuhsc.edu
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Birke
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Brandsma
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Schreuders
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piefer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000503:physiopathology; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009757:Nylons; D015588:Observer Variation; D009790:Occupations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D013785:Thailand; D014456:Ulcer / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D009757:Nylons