Table 1.
Patient characteristics for the entire population and across itching severity categories, score ranges: 0–3 (mild itching), 4–6 (moderate itching), and 7–10 (severe itching)
| Total (N = 996) | 0–3 (N = 358) | 4–6 (N = 295) | 7–10 (N = 343) | Test; p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 636 (63.9) | 233 (65.1) | 185 (62.7) | 218 (63.6) | 0.41; 0.81 |
| Age (n = 989) | 67.0 ± 13.8 | 67.7 ± 14.2 | 67.2 ± 13.3 | 66.2 ± 13.8 | 1.05; 0.35 |
| 2. How long have you been experiencing itching? (N = 877) | |||||
| Less than 2 months | 234 (26.7) | 121 (42.5) | 61 (22.2) | 52 (16.4) | 66.43; < 0.001 |
| Less than 1 year | 266 (30.3) | 86 (30.2) | 84 (30.5) | 96 (30.3) | |
| Several years | 377 (43.0) | 78 (27.4) | 130 (47.3) | 169 (53.3) | |
| 4. How would you describe your chronic itching?(N = 943) | |||||
| It occurs only during dialysis | 98 (10.4) | 31 (9.5) | 37 (12.8) | 30 (9.1) | 304.01; < 0.001 |
| A mild discomfort | 385 (40.8) | 239 (73.3) | 112 (38.9) | 34 (10.3) | |
| It is present at night | 171 (18.1) | 19 (5.8) | 45 (15.6) | 107 (32.5) | |
| It is present for most of the day | 191 (20.3) | 27 (8.3) | 67 (23.3) | 97 (29.5) | |
| It is always present | 98 (10.4) | 10 (3.1) | 27 (9.4) | 61 (18.5) | |
| 5. To what extent does your chronic itching affect your daily life? (N = 956) | |||||
| It limits me in my relationships with my family | 19 (2.0) | 0 (0) | 5 (1.7) | 14 (4.2) | 240.46; < 0.001 |
| It limits me with everyone else | 99 (10.4) | 7 (2.1) | 27 (9.3) | 65 (19.3) | |
| It makes me nervous, prevents me from sleeping | 263 (27.5) | 36 (10.9) | 68 (23.5) | 159 (47.3) | |
| It is just a disturbance that I easily overcome | 575 (60.1) | 288 (87.0) | 189 (65.4) | 98 (29.2) | |
| 6. How did you manage the chronic itching at the beginning? (N = 908) | |||||
| I have talked to other patients in my center | 20 (2.2) | 5 (1.6) | 7 (2.5) | 8 (2.5) | 70.71; < 0.001 |
| I have used home remedies (e.g. cosmetics, cold shower) | 268 (29.5) | 134 (43.7) | 72 (26.3) | 62 (19.0) | |
| I have gone to the pharmacy to buy skin creams | 154 (17.0) | 56 (18.2) | 48 (17.5) | 50 (15.3) | |
| I have discussed it with my general practitioner | 48 (5.3) | 10 (3.3) | 19 (6.9) | 19 (5.8) | |
| I have talked about it immediately with the dialysis staff | 319 (35.1) | 86 (28.0) | 92 (33.6) | 141 (43.1) | |
| I have visited a dermatologist | 78 (8.6) | 8 (2.6) | 29 (10.6) | 41 (12.5) | |
| I don’t know | 21 (2.3) | 8 (2.6) | 7 (2.5) | 6 (1.8) | |
| 8. Who among these told you that they suffer from chronic itching? (N = 763) | |||||
| Dermatologist | 53 (7.0) | 14 (5.3) | 18 (7.9) | 21 (7.7) | 2.05; 0.9 |
| My family doctor | 43 (5.6) | 15 (5.7) | 13 (5.7) | 15 (5.5) | |
| Nephrologist | 525 (68.8) | 184 (70.2) | 152 (66.7) | 189 (69.2) | |
| The dialysis nurse | 142 (18.6) | 49 (18.7) | 45 (19.7) | 48 (17.6) | |
| 9. Have you received satisfactory answers about the nature of this condition? (N = 882) | |||||
| I haven't had satisfactory answers | 233 (26.4) | 31 (10.6) | 71 (26.7) | 131 (40.6) | 98.83; < 0.001 |
| I wouldn't know how to answer | 24 (2.7) | 9 (3.1) | 7 (2.6) | 8 (2.5) | |
| Yes, somewhat | 339 (38.4) | 109 (37.2) | 104 (39.1) | 126 (39.0) | |
| Yes, I have received complete and satisfactory responses | 286 (32.4) | 144 (49.1) | 84 (31.6) | 58 (18.0) | |
| 10. Have you been seen by a dermatologist? (n = 924) | |||||
| No, I have never been seen by a dermatologist | 656 (71.0) | 259 (80.7) | 187 (67.5) | 210 (64.4) | 25.45; < 0.001 |
| Yes, I have decided to have a consultation | 177 (19.2) | 36 (11.2) | 64 (23.1) | 77 (23.6) | |
| Yes, I was referred by the nephrologist of my dialysis center | 91 (9.8) | 26 (8.1) | 26 (9.4) | 39 (12.0) | |
| 13. Do you continue to talk about itching with your nephrologist? (N = 930) | |||||
| No | 630 (67.7) | 259 (80.2) | 200 (70.9) | 171 (52.6) | 58.22; < 0.001 |
| Yes | 300 (32.3) | 64 (19.8) | 82 (29.1) | 154 (47.4) | |
| 14. If you answered no, can you explain why you don't talk about it? (N = 622) | |||||
| I realized that nothing can be done | 469 (75.4) | 183 (81.0) | 151 (74.0) | 135 (70.3) | 7.56; 0.11 |
| The nephrologist said we did everything we could | 109 (17.5) | 29 (12.8) | 37 (18.1) | 43 (22.4) | |
| It embarrasses me a lot | 44 (7.1) | 14 (6.2) | 16 (7.8) | 14 (7.3) | |
| 15. Do you discuss itch with the dialysis nurse? (N = 885) | |||||
| I don't talk about it | 414 (46.8) | 165 (55.2) | 125 (47.5) | 124 (38.4) | 32.11; < 0.001 |
| Only occasionally | 229 (25.9) | 49 (16.4) | 65 (24.7) | 115 (35.6) | |
| Yes, he/she gives me useful advice | 242 (27.3) | 85 (28.4) | 73 (27.8) | 84 (26.0) | |
| 16. He believes that the itching he suffers from (N = 846) | |||||
| It needs to be studied further | 193 (22.8) | 41 (15.0) | 54 (20.6) | 98 (31.6) | 38.97; < 0.001 |
| It needs to be taken seriously into consideration | 345 (40.8) | 101 (36.9) | 114 (43.5) | 130 (41.9) | |
| It cannot be counteracted; I must resign myself | 308 (36.4) | 132 (48.2) | 94 (35.9) | 82 (26.5) | |
Data are presented as number and %. N represents the number of subjects