Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus Burden: A Patient Survey Study

Results: Overall, 354 patients with CKD-aP were included in analyses, of which 49% and 30% had moderate and severe itch, respectively (22% were mild). Around 68% reported symptoms to HCPs, most commonly a nephrologist or primary care provider, and 55% received a treatment recommendation. The most common treatments were topical lotions/moisturizers (75%) and corticosteroids (48%); use of oral prescriptions was low (20%), with limited satisfaction with treatments. Overall, 23% of patients reported shortening and 17% reported missing HD sessions because of itch. In bivariate analysis, patients with more severe CKD-aP reported significantly fi cantly worse disease and function scores (kidney disease score, cognitive function, quality of social interaction, sleep [all, P < 0.001], and sexual function [P P < 0.05]), suggesting a direct effect of CKD-aP on QoL. Limitations: Possible recall bias, especially for questions with longer recall periods. Conclusions: CKD-aP is often inadequately treated and disruptive of dialysis treatment, even among patients who report itch to HCPs. Worse itch severity is associated with poorer QoL, sleep quality, and functional/work impairment.