Chronic Pruritus Severity and QoL Impact on Healthcare Utilization among Veterans: A National Survey

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sarah Chisolm, Emory University; Howa Yeung, Emory University; Katelyn Peloza, Emory University; Suephy Chen, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-10-01
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier, Inc. on behalf of the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2019.02.039
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
• Volume: 139
• Issue: 10
• Start Page: 2223
• End Page: 2225
• Grant/Funding Information: This study is supported in part by the Dermatology Foundation and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health under award number UL1TR002378 and KL2TR002381 (H.Y.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Dermatology; Science & Technology

Abstract

Chronic pruritus has significant negative effects on health-related quality of life (QoL) and accounts for 7 million, or 1%, of all outpatient visits annually in the United States (Shive et al., 2013). Chronic pruritus is associated with comorbidities such as anxiety and depression, as well as negative effects on sleep quality (Yosipovitch and Bernhard, 2013). Little is known about how patient-reported QoL impairment due to pruritus is related to healthcare utilization. This national survey of U.S. veterans aimed to assess the association between itch severity and itch-related QoL impact with healthcare utilization.