Prevalence of Chronic Itch and Associated Factors in Haemodialysis Patients: A Representative Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Chronic itch is a common symptom in haemodialysis (HD) patients, which is often underestimated. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with chronic itch in HD patients. A total of 860 HD patients from a randomly selected cluster-sample of patients attending dialysis units in Germany were included. The patients' mean?±?SD age was 67.2?±?13.5 years, 57.2% were male. The point prevalence of chronic itch was 25.2% (95% CI 22.4-28.1), 12-month prevalence was 27.2% (95% CI 24.1-30.3) and lifetime prevalence was 35.2% (95% CI 31.9-38.3). Chronic itch was significantly less prevalent in patients with secondary glomerulonephritis as primary renal disease. A history of dry skin, eczema, and age <?70 years were significantly associated with chronic itch. General health status and quality of life were significantly more impaired in subjects with chronic itch. This is the first representative cross-sectional study using a precise definition of chronic itch and using different prevalence estimates of chronic itch in HD patients. It demonstrates that chronic itch is a long-lasting burden significantly impairing patients' health.

Medical needs and major complaints related to pruritus in Germany: a 4‐year retrospective analysis using Google AdWords Keyword Planner

“…Epidemiological data have, however, been generated for individual indications, e.g. recently for haemodialysis‐related pruritus . For other entities such as scabies (acute pruritus), the prevalence is estimated to be up to 100%, approximately 80% for psoriasis (acute and chronic pruritus) and approximately 17% for (healthy) employed persons (chronic pruritus) .…”

Lower prevalence of chronic itch in haemodialysis patients on loop diuretics: results from GEHIS (German Epidemiological Hemodialysis Itch Study)

“…The pathogenesis of CI in HD patients is still elusive. Among others, calcium, phosphate, creatinine and parathormone (PTH) have been investigated as potential pruritogenic factors, however without conclusive results . Medications have been suspected to play a role as a contributing factor for CI.…”

Priority topics for European multidisciplinary guidelines on the management of chronic kidney disease in older adults

“…The group acknowledged the high prevalence of this symptom [21] and its importance to patients [22], but deemed it more appropriate to explore the applicability of existing non-renal guidelines [23], or develop pruritus management guidelines targeting CKD stage 3b-5 patients in general.…”