Douleur Neuropathique 4 flow
Introduction
The DN4 (which stands for Douleur Neuropathique 4) is one of the questionnaires that can be useful in diagnosing neuropathic pain. It has components of how the pain feels to the patient but also requires the examining health professional to assess whether there is reduced sensation (hypoaesthesia) to touch or pinprick and whether light brushing increases or causes pain (allodynia)[1].
It is a clinician-administered questionnaire consisting of 10 items. Seven items related to pain quality (i.e. sensory and pain descriptors) are based on an interview with the patient and 3 items based on the clinical examination[2].
The Douleur Neuropathique 4 flow contains the Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire and associated calculation. After form submission, the Douleur Neuropathique 4 calculation is executed automatically. It's easy to extend this flow with conditional logic based on the interpretation of the Douleur Neuropathique 4 calculation.
Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire
Questions and Scoring
The 10 items are scored with yes (1) and no (0).
Link to Dutch version of the questionnaire.
Link to English version of the questionnaire.
Calculation
The amount of yesses are counted, can be split up in:
- Amount of yesses on the patient's interview part (/7)
- Amount of yesses on the patient's examiniation part (/3)
- Total amount of yesses / total DN4 score (/10)
Interpretation
The total score ranges from 0 to 100; a high score indicates good outcome.
References
[1] Perez, C., Galvez, R., Huelbes, S. et al. Validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the DN4 (Douleur Neuropathique 4 questions) questionnaire for differential diagnosis of pain syndromes associated to a neuropathic or somatic component. Health Qual Life Outcomes 5, 66 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-5-66
