J Clin Neurol.
2023 May;19(3):296-303. 10.3988/jcn.2022.0105.
Characteristics of Diverse Verbal Pain Descriptors in South Korean Patients With Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: ‘Jeorim’ (Tingling) and ‘Sirim’ (Cold) as Key Neuropathic Pain Descriptors
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Neurology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- 2Department of Neurology, Uijeongbu Eulji Medical Center, Eulji University School of Medicine, Uijeongbu, Korea
- 3Department of Neurology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- 4Department of Psychology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea
- 5Department of Neurology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea
- 6Department of Neurology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
- KMID: 2542060
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3988/jcn.2022.0105
Abstract
- Background and Purpose
The description of pain is the most-important indicator leading to the adequate treatment of patients with neuropathic pain (NeP). The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the unique features of Korean verbal descriptions in patients with peripheral NeP.
Methods
This study included 400 patients (167 males and 233 females) and their 1,387 paindescription responses. Patients with peripheral NeP freely described their symptoms in Korean. Collected verbal descriptions were grouped according to terminologies with similar meanings. Participants completed validated patient-reported outcome scales including the neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI) and painDETECT questionnaire (PD-Q). The frequencies of each verbal pain descriptor were compared between the NPSI and PD-Q scores.
Results
‘Jeorim’ (tingling) was the most common among 17 types of organized verbal pain descriptors, and the ‘Sirim’ (cold) symptom had a significantly higher rate of use in the 2 highseverity groups when participants were classified by their total scores on the NPSI and PD-Q.
Conclusions
Korean verbal NeP descriptors were significantly diverse. The Jeorim (tingling) and Sirim (cold) descriptors can be utilized in evaluations of Korean patients with NeP.
