The goal of this study was to assess the illness burden in patients
with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Community-based physicians
recruited 255 patients with painful DPN between April and October 2003.
Patients completed a survey on pain experience, health status, healthcare
utilization (consults, prescription, and over-the-counter medications),
and work productivity or functioning. A majority (87.4%) took prescription
or over-the-counter pain medications in the preceding week. Nearly half
(46.7%) received NSAIDs. Other frequently reported medications were
short- or long-acting opioids (43.1%), anticonvulsants (27.1%), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (18%), and tricyclic
antidepressants (11.4%). During the preceding 3 months, 59.6% had 2
or more health professional consults; 59% reported decreased home productivity;
85.5% reported activity limitations; and 64.4% of patients who worked
(73) reported missing work or decreased work productivity due to painful
DPN. Gore M, Brandenburg NA, Hoffman DL, Tai KS, Stacey B. Adapted from
J Pain. 2006 Dec;7(12):892-900.
PMID: 17157775
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
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