The Nature of Acute Pain in Herpes Zoster and Its Relationship to the Patients' Activities of Daily Living

Kang, Ho Song; Hur, Jae; Park, Kyung Tae; Kim, Joung Soo; Yu, Hee Joon

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Acute pain can severely interfere with the activities of daily living (ADL) of patients with herpes zoster, but until now, little has been published in the Korean medical literature about the impact of herpes zoster on the ADL.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to identify the nature and severity of the acute pain of herpes zoster patients and its relationship to the patients' ADL.
METHODS
86 patients with herpes zoster and who visited our hospital from August 2009 to June 2010 were evaluated in regard to age, gender, the dermatomal distribution, the associated diseases, the severity and nature of the pain and the ADL. The nature of the pain was measured by the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire. To access interference of pain with the ADL, we used the Zoster Brief Pain Inventory (ZBPI) and the Zoster Impact Questionnaire (ZIQ).
RESULTS
The mean onset of pain was 5.6+/-3.2 days before the visit, and the mean onset of skin lesion was 4.2+/-2.2 days before the visit. The most common nature of the pain of herpes zoster was shooting pain (55.8%), followed by stabbing pain (54.7%). But there was no significant difference of gender, age, the dermatomal distribution, the clinical severity and the associated disease according to the severity and nature of the pain. For every 1.0 point increase in the pain score, there was a 0.257 and 0.105 point increase in the ZBPI and ZIQ scores, respectively, on the multivariate linear regression model.
CONCLUSION
This study will help to choose appropriate treatments to reduce the pain of patients who suffer with herpes zoster.