Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI)

Developed in 1994

The Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) is designed to screen for the presence of diabetic neuropathy. The MNSI is designed to be used in an outpatient setting by primary care or other providers

The first part of the screening instrument, the history questionnaire, consists of 15 self-administered "yes or no" questions on foot sensation including pain, numbness and temperature sensitivity. A higher score (out of a maximum of 13 points) indicates more neuropathic symptoms

The questions were chosen from among those in the Neuropathy Screening Profile of Peter Dyck that showed the highest degree of specificity and sensitivity for diabetic neuropathy among normal subjects and those with a variety of neuromuscular disorders (Neurology, 36:1300-1308, 1986)

The second part of the MNSI is a brief physical assessment (completed by health professionals) involving
1) inspection of the feet for deformities, dry skin, hair or nail abnormalities, callous or infection
2) semi-quantitative assessment of vibration sensation at the dorsum of the great toe
3) grading of ankle reflexes and
4) monofilament testing.
Patients screening positive on the clinical portion of the MNSI (greater than 2 points on a 10 point scale) are considered neuropathic and referred for further evaluation

Feldman EL, Stevens MJ, Thomas PK, Brown MB, Canal N, Greene DA: A practical two-step quantitative clinical and electrophysiological assessment for the diagnosis and staging of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care 1994;17:1281-1289 (PubMed Abstract)

Michigan Diabetes Research Center

Examination copies can only be used for the limited purpose of examining the suitability of the Questionnaire for subsequent research and/or clinical use, and cannot be used in research or in clinical practice or distributed to others.
You are not authorized to modify, retype, translate, copy or otherwise duplicate the Questionnaire except with the further and prior written permission of Mapi Research Trust / the developers / copyright holders / distributors.

• MNSI in English for the USA

The listed translations may not have undergone a full linguistic validation process and may require further work to be suitable for use in a study. This list is subject to constant changes, therefore please check the status of translations with Mapi Research Trust / the developers / copyright holders / distributors.

The user can translate the instrument and special permission from Owner is not needed.
User shall send a copy of the translations to the Owner when completed.

Also, the Owner asks that user cites their Center: "The project described was supported by Grant Number P30DK020572 (Michigan Diabetes Research Center (MDRC)) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases" Or “The project described was supported by Grant Number P30DK092926 (Michigan Diabetes Research Center (MDRC)) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.”