Localised Neuropathic Pain in primary care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Localised Neuropathic Pain (LNP) managed in the primary care setting in France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study of prevalence, clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and patient’s reported outcomes
IRAS ID
209214
Contact name
Nigel De Kare-Silver
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Grünenthal GmbH
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 6 days
Research summary
Pain that continues for a long time and originates from nerve damage can cause numbness, pain, and weakness. This type of pain is called chronic neuropathic pain; it requires a lot of attention from GPs and it can be challenging to manage satisfactorily. Chronic neuropathic pain is often restricted to one area of the body and therefore it could be treated with medicines that act locally, thus avoiding the undesirable side effects of medicines taken as pills or injected. However, chronic neuropathic pain that is limited to one area is not commonly understood, nor is it mentioned in the guidelines for optimal management of pain. To date only sparse data is available in literature about the features of this type of pain, how it is managed and how many people are affected in Europe and in the UK.
We plan to conduct a study of patients affected by chronic neuropathic pain localised in one area who see their GP across Europe and specifically in France, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the UK. The objectives of the study are:
• To estimate how many patients suffer from this pain;
• To describe the characteristics pertaining to the medical care of those patients, including which medicines they take;
• To understand how patients themselves describe their own health status and if they suffer from any sleep disturbance.
The study will include patients with chronic neuropathic pain presenting specific signs and symptoms as defined in the scientific literature, who signed an informed consent form. For those patients who agree to participate to the study their GP will collect anonymised data on age and sex, lifestyle, history of major diseases, features of the pain they experience, and medicines taken to treat their pain. Additionally, patients will fill in two short questionnaires to describe their health status and any sleep disturbance.
The study protocol will be submitted to the relevant ethics committee for evaluation and approval in each study country. This application relates to the conduct of the study in the UK.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1711
Date of REC Opinion
11 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion