Utility of a Single Itch-Related Question and the Skindex-10 Questionnaire for Assessing Pruritus and Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus has been linked with poorer mental and physical health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in patients receiving hemodialysis. We used the Skindex-10 questionnaire and a single itch-related question to evaluate their prediction of HR-QOL. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, international cohort. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: We analyzed data from 4,940 patients receiving hemodialysis from 17 countries enrolled in phase 5 (2013) of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study. PREDICTORS: The responses to the 10 questions of Skindex-10 (0-6 scale) pertaining to itchiness in the past week were summed to create a summary score (range, 0-60). Concurrently, a single question from the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-item survey asked “during the past 4 weeks, to what extent were you bothered by itchy skin?” with 5 responses, ranging from “not at all” to “extremely" bothered. OUTCOMES: Physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of HR-QOL. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: We used separate linear regression models to evaluate the predictive power, based on R(2) values, for 3 models: 1 for each predictor and 1 with both predictors. RESULTS: The correlation between the single itch-related question and the Skindex-10 score was 0.72. A 10-point higher Skindex-10 score was associated with a 1.2-point lower PCS score (95% CI, −1.4 to −0.9) and a 1.5-point lower MCS score (95% CI, −1.7 to −1.3) . The R(2) value for PCS was 0.065 when the single question was used and only 0.033 when Skindex-10 was used as the predictor; the R(2) value for MCS was 0.056 for the single question versus 0.052 for Skindex-10. LIMITATIONS: Measurement bias and translation issues in the questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: The single question about the extent to which the patients were bothered by itchy skin was highly correlated with the Skindex-10 score and at least as predictive of key HR-QOL measures. In daily clinical practice, using 1 simple question about the extent to which patients are bothered by itchy skin can be a feasible and efficient method for the routine assessment of pruritus.