Changes in prevalence and severity of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus over 6 years in a community hemodialysis clinic: a retrospective observational study

Abstract

We compared the status of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus among outpatients of a hemodialysis (HD) clinic in 2008 and 2014, using identical questionnaires. All outpatients receiving HD participated in the study. The prevalence of pruritus over the week before questionnaire administration was not significantly different between 2008 (58.6%) and 2014 (50.0%). However, the percentage of patients with moderate to extreme itch decreased from 48.5% to 29.0% (P<0.01). The rate of patient satisfaction with the antipruritic treatment increased from 22.6% to 68.0% (P<0.01). Our experience may encourage physicians to modify antipruritic treatments for better patient care.