01963nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001653002000042653002100062653001200083653001300095100001300108700002400121700001300145700001200158700001200170700001700182700001600199245009400215856007900309300002600388520129300414022001401707       2014                            d10aQuality of Life10aneuropathic pain10aleprosy10aEthiopia1 aRamos JM1 aAlonso-Castañeda B1 aEshetu D1 aLemma D1 aReyes F1 aBelinchón I1 aGórgolas M00aPrevalence and characteristics of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients treated years ago.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4069335/pdf/pgh-108-04-186.pdf  a2047773214Y00000001403 a<p>The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of neuropathic pain, now recognized as another late complication of leprosy, and its characteristics among leprosy patients. A cross-sectional study was carried out of people treated for leprosy up to at least 5 years ago in a rural area of Ethiopia. Seventy-four patients were interviewed using the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) questionnaire. In total, 78·9% of the patients were female with a mean age of 42·9. The mean time from initial diagnosis to the time of the study was 28·0 years, and 73·0% of patients were diagnosed over 20 years ago. Fifty-two (70·3%) reported having symptoms suggestive of neuropathic pain and the majority described the pain as burning (88·5%), electric (80·8%), stabbing (76·9%), cutting (76·9%), tingling (65·4%), squeezing (57·7%), and/or pressure (53·8%). The pain caused a severe or moderate impact on daily life in 75% and 57·7% of cases, respectively, and 92·3% suffered from disrupted sleep. Eighty percent of patients with pain (42/52) took some medication for pain relief. Neuropathic pain is common in patients treated for leprosy and in more than half of them, it causes disruption in their daily life and sleep, limiting their quality of life even more.</p>
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