title: Review of measures of neuropathic pain.
abstract: Eight measures of neuropathic pain exist that have been designed to discriminate neuropathic from non-neuropathic pain and detect treatment effects. The current paper describes these measures and summarizes the evidence supporting their validity. Based on the available evidence, the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Signs and Symptoms appears to have the most empirical support as a measure that distinguishes patients with and without neuropathic pain in patient samples presenting with mixed chronic pain problems. However, given the lack of overlap in measures designed for this purpose, it is likely that the validity of any one measure could be improved by incorporating items from the others. The Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS) has the most empirical support as a measure of treatment outcome, although a new measure that includes the NPS items (the Pain Quality Assessment Scale) will likely prove to be even more useful, because it includes pain descriptors common to people with neuropathic and other chronic pain conditions not included on the NPS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Box 356490, University of Washington School of Medicine, 1959 NE Pacific, Seattle, WA 98195-6490, USA. mjensen@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
references.citation: Pain Med. 2004 Jun;5(2):187-95
references.pmid: 15209973
references.citation: Pain. 2004 Mar;108(1-2):192-8
references.pmid: 15109523
references.citation: Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2003 Jun;32(6):407-11
references.pmid: 12833249
references.citation: Pain. 2002 Jul;98(1-2):229-30; author reply 230-1
references.pmid: 12098635
references.citation: Neurology. 2005 Sep 27;65(6):812-9
references.pmid: 16186518
references.citation: J Pain. 2003 Feb;4(1):2-21
references.pmid: 14622723
references.citation: J Pain. 2004 Oct;5(8):427-32
references.pmid: 15501424
references.citation: J Pain. 2005 Mar;6(3):149-58
references.pmid: 15772908
references.citation: Pain. 1995 Mar;60(3):267-74
references.pmid: 7596622
references.citation: Pain Med. 2003 Mar;4(1):21-30
references.pmid: 12873275
references.citation: Anesthesiology. 1971 Jan;34(1):50-9
references.pmid: 4924784
references.citation: Clin J Pain. 2003 Sep-Oct;19(5):306-14
references.pmid: 12966256
references.citation: Clin J Pain. 2006 Jan;22(1 Suppl):S9-13
references.pmid: 16344610
references.citation: Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2000 Feb;47(2):123-8
references.pmid: 10670912
references.citation: J R Soc Med. 2003 Aug;96(8):379-83
references.pmid: 12893852
references.citation: Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1998 Dec;79(12):1560-4
references.pmid: 9862301
references.citation: Curr Med Res Opin. 2004;20 Suppl 2:S21-8
references.pmid: 15563743
references.citation: Pain. 2003 May;103(1-2):111-7
references.pmid: 12749965
references.citation: Pain. 2005 Mar;114(1-2):29-36
references.pmid: 15733628
references.citation: J Pain. 2005 Feb;6(2):98-106
references.pmid: 15694876
references.citation: Clin J Pain. 2006 Jan;22(1):97-103
references.pmid: 16340598
references.citation: J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000 Oct;20(4):286-92
references.pmid: 11027911
references.citation: Clin J Pain. 2002 Sep-Oct;18(5):297-301
references.pmid: 12218500
references.citation: Curr Med Res Opin. 2004;20 Suppl 2:S5-12
references.pmid: 15563741
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;76(6):833-8
references.pmid: 15897507
references.citation: Neurology. 1997 Feb;48(2):332-8
references.pmid: 9040716
references.citation: Pain Med. 2005 Jul-Aug;6(4):299-304
references.pmid: 16083460
references.citation: Clin J Pain. 2003 Sep-Oct;19(5):315-6
references.pmid: 12966257
references.citation: J Spinal Cord Med. 2002 Summer;25(2):100-5
references.pmid: 12137213
references.citation: Curr Med Res Opin. 2004;20 Suppl 2:S13-9
references.pmid: 15563742
references.citation: Pain. 2001 May;92(1-2):147-57
references.pmid: 11323136
references.citation: Pain. 2004 Apr;108(3):248-257
references.pmid: 15030944