title: Validation of the S-LANSS in the community setting.
abstract: The Self-Administered Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS), an assessment tool to determine if pain is predominantly neuropathic, has not been validated in a community setting. Previously identified residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, with chronic pain were recruited using a stratified randomization process to increase the frequency of neuropathic pain in the study sample. Subjects completed the S-LANSS in mailed and telephone formats, and underwent clinical assessment to determine if a component of their pain was neuropathic. Sensitivity and specificity of the S-LANSS as compared to the clinical assessment were determined. Two hundred and five subjects participated in the study. Eighty-three subjects (40%) had a positive S-LANSS score in the mailed, as did 59 of 173 (34%) in the telephone format, with little inter-subject difference in scores (p=0.57). Clinical assessment identified a component of neuropathic pain in 37% of the sample (75/205). Compared to clinical assessment, sensitivity and specificity in the mailed S-LANSS were 57% (95% CI, 46-69%) and 69% (95% CI, 61-77%), respectively, and in the telephone S-LANSS were 52% (95% CI, 39-64%) and 78% (95% CI, 68-85%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-LANSS in both formats were lower than the initial S-LANSS validation study. Differences in survey format and subject population could account for these differences, suggesting that the S-LANSS is best suited as a screening tool and its use to determine the prevalence of neuropathic pain in population studies should be viewed cautiously.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesia, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA. weingarten.toby@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Toby N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Weingarten
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: W Michael
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Hooten
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Wollan
authors.forename: L Joseph
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Melton
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Locketz
authors.forename: Gilbert Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Barbara P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Yawn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016353:Self-Examination / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*