01979nas a2200277 4500000000100000008004100001653005200042653001500094653001000109653002500119653002600144653001200170653001400182653001000196653001500206100001500221700001500236700001100251700001500262700001600277245008200293856005100375300001000426490000700436520125800443 2014 d10aTENLEP Treatment of Early Neuropathy in LEProsy10aNeuropathy10aNepal10aMonofilament Testing10aManual Muscle Testing10aleprosy10aIndonesie10aIndia10aBangladesh1 aBrandsma W1 aWagenaar I1 aPost E1 aNicholls P1 aRichardus J00aReliability of Clinical Nerve Function Assessment in Peripheral Neuropathies. uhttps://leprosyreview.org/article/85/1/00-1869 a29-350 v853 a

Introduction: Sensory and/or motor nerve function impairment as a consequence of neuropathy is often assessed using electroneurophysiological tests. However, in low-resource countries where the required equipment is rarely available, manual muscle strength testing (MMST) and monofilament testing (MFT) offer very reliable alternatives. In six leprosy programmes in four Asian countries, a multi-centre randomised clinical trial (RCT) was carried out to assess the effect of corticosteroids on neuropathy in leprosy-affected people. The sensory and motor nerve function was tested using MMST and MFT, including new test sites for the sural and radial cutaneous nerves (MFT) and the posterior tibial and common peroneal nerves (MMST). The reliability studies of the MMST and MFT tests of the TENLEP (Treatment of Early Neuropathy in LEProsy) trials are presented here. Methods: Two assessors in each centre independently used the MFT and MMST in 30 leprosy-affected people. Results: Reliability is good to very good for MFT in nearly all nerves. MMST also shows good to very good agreement, with a few exceptions. Conclusion: Our study confirms that MMST and MFT can be performed reliably, and that the new tests also have acceptable reliability