Health-related quality of life and its predictive role for analgesic effect in patients with painful polyneuropathy

At baseline, all eight SF-36 scores were lower than in the normal population. No significant differences were found between SF-36 scales during placebo and treatment with valproic acid and St. John's wort. Those two drugs had not shown a pain relieving effect in former analysis. The SF-36 scale of bodily pain (BP) was improved by venlafaxine treatment (p = 0.023). General health (GH) and vitality (VT) were improved under treatment with imipramine (GH: p = 0.006, VT: p = 0.015). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline SF-36 scores predicted subsequent response to pharmacological treatment. Results show an impaired HRQL in painful polyneuropathy and suggest that HRQL may predict response to analgesic treatment.