Open AccessBrazilian Portuguese Validation of the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs for Patients with Chronic Pain
Author(s) -
Schestatsky Pedro,
FélixTorres Vitor,
Fagundes Chaves Márcia Lorena,
CâmaraEhlers Betânia,
Mucenic Tamara,
Caumo Wolnei,
Nascimento Osvaldo,
Bennett Michael I.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2011.01221.x
Subject(s) - medicine , neuropathic pain , portuguese , chronic pain , pain medicine , physical therapy , anesthesia , philosophy , linguistics , anesthesiology
Background. Neuropathic pain (NP) is a very frequent and unrecognized condition in clinical practice. Therefore, it is important to have a reliable instrument to assess pain subtypes in various cultures. The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) has been widely used and validated in many countries. Up to now, there has been no reliability study of this instrument in Brazil. Methods. The scores of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the LANSS were studied in a sample of 90 chronic pain outpatients from southern Brazil. LANSS was translated into Portuguese and then back translated to English. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency (IC) were estimated. The intensity of pain complaints, other demographic data, and LANSS scores distribution according to pain subtypes (nociceptive, neuropathic, and mixed) were also evaluated. Results. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the LANSS showed good ICC ( r = 0.97) and IC (Cronbach's α = 0.67 for total LANSS score). Patients with NP provided significant higher LANSS scores (19.1 ± 3.3) in comparison with those with nociceptive (7.3 ± 4.5) and mixed (13.9 ± 3.7) types of pain. Conclusions. This LANSS version was found to be a reliable instrument for the evaluation of pain complaints due to a variety of causes. The profile of pain scores was similar to that observed in other countries.