Abstract
Itching is a leading symptom of eczema or dermatitis and has a great impact on patients’ lives. Previous studies on itching have focused mostly on atopic dermatitis (AD). A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted among outpatients with eczema from 39 tertiary hospitals in mainland China from July 1 to September 30, 2014. This work elaborates on itching in different types of eczema. Itching was very common (97%, 8499/8758) in outpatients with eczema. The severity of the itch increased with age and disease duration (P < 0.001). The top three subtypes of dermatitis with severe itching were atopic dermatitis (30.4%), widespread eczema (30.1%), and asteatotic eczema (27.9%). Widespread eczema refers to the involvement of more than three body parts, without clinical features of other specific types of eczema. The proportion of outpatients without itching was highest in hand eczema (6.8%). Positive correlations were observed between the severity of itching and the proportions of different diseases based on trend tests, including atopic dermatitis (P < 0.001), widespread eczema (P < 0.001), asteatotic eczema (P < 0.001), and autosensitization dermatitis (P < 0.001). Eczema outpatients with older age, longer disease duration, and, especially, a history of allergic diseases might be more prone to itching.
Highlights
Pain and itching play critical roles in protecting organisms from sources of danger, such as extreme temperatures, reactive chemicals, and tissue injury
The probability of itching occurrence in eczema outpatients is related to many factors including age, disease duration, history of allergic disease and flexion dermatitis
Findings from the age and disease-duration subgroup analyses show that the severity of itching increases with age and disease duration
Summary
Pain and itching play critical roles in protecting organisms from sources of danger, such as extreme temperatures, reactive chemicals, and tissue injury. These sensations can result in neuronal modulation of the immune system or behavioral avoidance of future exposure to pathogens. A German population-based cross-sectional study found that the self-reported, 12-month, and lifetime prevalences of chronic pruritus (lasting ≥6 weeks) were 13.5%, 16%, and 22%, respectively[8]. In a Norwegian population-based cross-sectional study on self-reported skin morbidity, pruritus, the dominant symptom among adults, was experienced within the past week by 9% of women and 7.5% of men[9].
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