Pain characteristics in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and its impact on quality of life: a prospective observational study in a northern city of China.

Background Pain in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a considerable impact on the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers, and thus the identification and evaluation of pain characteristics in ALS should be addressed. However, due to the scarcity of research data, pain in ALS is still frequently underestimated and insufficiently treated. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of pain in patients with ALS using standardized pain questionnaires. Methods Eighty-nine patients diagnosed with ALS were interviewed. Consecutive patients with peripheral neuropathy were used as control subjects and were matched to the ALS subjects by age and sex. Patient data including gender, age, the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) score, and the pain severity index (PSI) were collected. The characteristics between ALS and peripheral neuropathy, and between ALS patients with and without pain were compared. Results In all, 89 patients with ALS and 89 control subjects with peripheral neuropathy were included. There were no significant differences in sex ratio and age between the two groups. There were significantly more patients with pain symptoms in the ALS group (35/89, 39%) than in the peripheral neuropathy group (20/89, 22%). Quality of life was significantly affected in the ALS patients with pain (using ALS patients without pain as control subjects). Conclusions The results suggested that pain was a significant symptom in patients with ALS and had a considerable impact on quality of life.