• Pedro Schestatsky, Vitor Félix-Torres, Márcia Lorena Fagundes Chaves, Betânia Câmara-Ehlers, Tamara Mucenic, Wolnei Caumo, Osvaldo Nascimento, and Michael I Bennett.
• Neurology Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. pedro.schestatsky@gmail.com
• Pain Med. 2011 Oct 1; 12 (10): 1544-50.

BackgroundNeuropathic 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.MethodsThe 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsThis 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.Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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