Occurrence, Chronicity and Intensity of Itch in a Clinical Consecutive Sample of Patients with Skin Diseases: a Multi-centre Study in 13 European Countries.

Occurrence, Chronicity and Intensity of Itch in a Clinical Consecutive Sample of Patients with Skin Diseases: a Multi-centre Study in 13 European Countries.
Acta Derm Venereol. 2018 Sep 18;:
Authors: Schut C, Dalgard FJ, Halvorsen JA, Gieler U, Lien L, Tomas Aragones L, Poot F, Jemec GB, Misery L, Kemény L, Sampogna F, van Middendorp H, Balieva F, Linder D, Szepietowski JC, Lvov A, Marron SE, Altunay IK, Finlay AY, Salek S, Kupfer J
Abstract
Itch is an unpleasant symptom, affecting many dermatological patients. Studies investigating the occurrence and intensity of itch in dermatological patients often focus on a single skin disease and omit a control group with healthy skin. The aim of this multi-centre study was to assess the occurrence, chronicity and intensity (visual analogue scale 0-10) of itch in patients with different skin diseases and healthy-skin controls. Out of 3,530 dermatological patients, 54.3% reported itch (mean ± standard deviation itch intensity 5.5 ± 2.5), while out of 1,094 healthy-skin controls 8% had itch (3.6 ± 2.3). Chronic itch was reported by 36.9% of the patients and 4.7% of the healthy-skin controls. Itch was most frequent (occurrence rates higher than 80%) in patients with unclassified pruritus, prurigo and related conditions, atopic dermatitis and hand eczema. However, many patients with psychodermatological conditions and naevi also reported itch (occurrence rates higher than 19%).
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Source: Acta Dermato-Venereologica - September 18, 2018 Category: Dermatology Authors: Schut C, Dalgard FJ, Halvorsen JA, Gieler U, Lien L, Tomas Aragones L, Poot F, Jemec GB, Misery L, Kemény L, Sampogna F, van Middendorp H, Balieva F, Linder D, Szepietowski JC, Lvov A, Marron SE, Altunay IK, Finlay AY, Salek S, Kupfer J Tags: Acta Derm Venereol Source Type: research