Psychometric validation of the Portuguese version of the Neuropathic Pain Symptoms Inventory

Abstract

BackgroudIt has been shown that different symptoms or symptom combinations of neuropathic pain (NeP) may correspond to different mechanistic backgrounds and respond differently to treatment. The Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) is able to detect distinct clusters of symptoms (i.e. dimensions) with a putative common mechanistic background. The present study described the psychometric validation of the Portuguese version (PV) of the NPSI.MethodsPatients were seen in two consecutive visits, three to four weeks apart. They were asked to: (i) rate their mean pain intensity in the last 24 hours on an 11-point (0-10) numerical scale; (ii) complete the PV-NPSI; (iii) provide the list of pain medications and doses currently in use. VAS and Global Impression of Change (GIC) were filled out in the second visit.ResultsPV-NPSI underwent test-retest reliability, factor analysis, analysis of sensitivity to changes between both visits. The PV-NPSI was reliable in this setting, with a good intra-class correlation for all items. The factorial analysis showed that the PV-NPSI inventory assessed different components of neuropathic pain. Five different factors were found. The PV-NPSI was adequate to evaluate patients with neuropathic pain and to detect clusters of NeP symptoms.ConclusionsThe psychometric properties of the PV-NPSI rendered it adequate to evaluate patients with both central and peripheral neuropathic pain syndromes and to detect clusters of NeP symptoms.

Pregabalin for the Prevention of Oxaliplatin-Induced Painful Neuropathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial

“…The presence of neuropathic pain characteristics was assessed by the Douleur Neuropathique-4 (0–10, positive ≥4) [31]. Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (0–100) was used for neuropathic pain profiling [32], [33].  Oxaliplatin-Related Neuropathy: The presence of neuropathy was assessed by the reduced version of the total neuropathy score (rTNS) [34] at baseline and at the last visit by blinded neurophysiologists with no other role in the study.…”

Neuropathic pain evaluation tools

“…Total pain intensity score may be calculated by the sum of 10 descriptors 30 . The validation process of the Portuguese version has shown that the self-applicable version is valid, reliable and sensitive to changes in both central and peripheral NP 9 .…”

“…To date, seven tools were developed to differentiate NP from non-neuropathic pain, and three more to describe NP 8 . Among ten NP evaluation tools, four were translated and validated to Brazilian Portuguese [9][10][11][12] . This article aimed at describing tools developed for the initial evaluation of NP patients.…”

Adaptação transcultural e validação do instrumento <i>Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Assessment Tool</i> (CIPNAT) para o Brasil

“…Considerado uma ferramenta simples e objetiva para rastrear e discriminar a dor neuropática da dor nociceptiva na prática clínica e pesquisa. Na análise (2004) Trata-se de um questionário delineado para avaliar diferentes sintomas de dor neuropática e que pode ser empregado tanto para dor neuropática de origem central como para de origem periférica (de ANDRADE et al, 2011). Apresenta uma abordagem clínica rápida e eficaz em determinar os distintos sintomas da dor neuropática, como dor espontânea ou contínua, dor evocada, e também a resposta mediante aos tratamentos.…”

“…Sua versão brasileira demonstrou que o questionário é um ferramenta válida e confiável, sensível as mudanças decorrentes do avanço da dor neuropática de origem central e/ou de origem periférica e além disso, apto a avaliar os diferentes aspectos que compreende a dor neuropática. O NPSI pode auxiliar na identificação de subgrupos de pacientes com dor neuropática com diferenças anatômicas e disfunções de mecanismos e, possivelmente uma resposta diferenciada ao tratamento farmacológico (BOUHASSIRA et al, 2004;de ANDRADE et al, 2011).…”