Characteristics of Pruritus in Various Clinical Variants of Psoriasis: Results of the Multinational, Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease present in about 3% of the world’s population. The clinical symptoms manifest diversely, therefore one can distinguish several subtypes of psoriasis. The majority of patients with psoriasis experience pruritus, which is an unpleasant sensation that decreases patients’ quality of life. The knowledge on pruritus in different subtypes of psoriasis is limited. We have performed a cross-sectional, prospective, and multicenter study to evaluate the relationship between clinical subtypes of psoriasis (large-plaque, nummular, guttate, palmoplantar, inverse, erythrodermic, palmoplantar pustular, generalized pustular psoriasis, and psoriasis of the scalp) and the prevalence, intensity, and clinical manifestation of itch. We introduced a questionnaire assessing various aspects of pruritus to a total of 254 patients. Out of these, 42 were excluded. Pruritus was present in 92.9% of the remaining patients and its prevalence did not depend on the clinical subtype. A correlation between the severity of psoriasis and the intensity of itch was explicitly noticeable in palmoplantar pustular psoriasis and scalp psoriasis (p < 0.05). The itch sensation was individual and differed among subtypes of psoriasis. In conclusion, pruritus is a frequent phenomenon, and its presentation is different in various subtypes of psoriasis.

The Impact of Pruritus on the Quality of Life and Sleep Disturbances in Patients Suffering from Different Clinical Variants of Psoriasis

“…Pruritus is one of the most relevant clinical parameters that may determine the degree of QoL impairment. In concordance with previous studies [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], our data confirmed that pruritus in psoriasis is very frequent, reaching the prevalence of up to 100% in some psoriasis variants, e.g., small-plaque-type psoriasis, scalp psoriasis, and generalized pustular psoriasis [ 9 ]. The severity of pruritus correlated with the impairment of QoL, particularly in scalp psoriasis and palmoplantar pustular psoriasis.…”

“…However, DLQI is a widely used method of QoL assessment and in many studies it is the major way how QoL impairment is assessed. Furthermore, sleeping disorders were diagnosed on the basis of three simple questions instead of a validated questionnaire, such as Athens Insomia Scale or Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [ 34 , 35 ]; however, we have used them successfully in our previous studies in patients suffering from pruritus [ 9 , 36 , 37 ] and they were used also by other authors [ 38 , 39 ].…”

“…Here, we aimed to investigate and characterize the differences of QoL and sleeping problems in different clinical variants of psoriasis with a special emphasis put on the role of pruritus, as it is the most frequent and the most bothersome subjective symptom of psoriasis [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Leading typological characteristics of temperament and psychodynamic personality traits in men with psoriasis without and taking into account the somatotype

“…contacts. A significant correlation has been established between the positive dynamics of the disease and a decrease in the level of neuroticism and anxiety [14,22].…”

Characterization of Generalized Pustular Psoriasis in Northwest China: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

“…Pruritus is often ignored in GPP. Jaworecka et al 24 stated that 92.9% (n = 212) of patients with psoriasis and 100% (n = 11) of patients with GPP experienced pruritus. In our study, 70.9% of patients experienced pruritus, which is higher than the proportion (59.8%) in the study by Ohata et al 18 .…”