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Health‐related quality of life and its predictive role for analgesic effect in patients with painful polyneuropathy
Author(s) -
Otto Marit,
Bach Flemming W.,
Jensen Troels S.,
Sindrup Søren H.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejpain.2006.08.003
Subject(s) - medicine , analgesic , placebo , polyneuropathy , quality of life (healthcare) , neuropathic pain , imipramine , population , anesthesia , venlafaxine , physical therapy , antidepressant , hippocampus , alternative medicine , nursing , environmental health , pathology
Painful polyneuropathy is a common neuropathic pain condition. The present study describes health‐related quality of life (HRQL) in a sample of patients with painful polyneuropathy of different origin and the possible predictive role of HRQL for analgesic effect. Ninety‐three patients with a diagnosis of painful polyneuropathy were included in the analysis. Data were obtained from three randomised, placebo‐controlled cross‐over studies testing the effect of different drugs on polyneuropathic pain (St. John's wort, venlafaxine/imipramine and valproic acid). Patients completed a HRQL questionnaire (SF‐36) after a drug‐free baseline period and at the end of each treatment period. At baseline, all eight SF‐36 scores were lower than in the normal population. No significant differences were found between SF‐36 scales during placebo and treatment with valproic acid and St. John's wort. Those two drugs had not shown a pain relieving effect in former analysis. The SF‐36 scale of bodily pain (BP) was improved by venlafaxine treatment ( p =0.023). General health (GH) and vitality (VT) were improved under treatment with imipramine (GH: p =0.006, VT: p =0.015). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline SF‐36 scores predicted subsequent response to pharmacological treatment. Results show an impaired HRQL in painful polyneuropathy and suggest that HRQL may predict response to analgesic treatment.