Uraemic pruritus markedly affects the quality of life and depressive symptoms in haemodialysis patients with end-stage renal disease.

Abstract

Little is known about the influence of uraemic pruritus on patients' wellbeing. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of uraemic pruritus on quality of life and depressive symptoms in patients with end-stage renal disease. A total of 200 haemodialysis patients were included into the study. The prevalence of uraemic pruritus was 38%. Patients with uraemic pruritus had significantly lower quality of life according to SF-36 questionnaire compared to the remaining of analysed subjects. Among patients with uraemic pruritus, 64.5% individuals also showed impaired skin-related quality of life evaluated with Dermatology Life Quality Index. The quality of life impairment correlated with uraemic pruritus intensity assessed with VAS and the 4-item itch questionnaire. Depression level significantly correlated with quality of life and severity of depressive symptoms was significantly associated with uraemic pruritus intensity. Our study underscores that uraemic pruritus should be regarded as an important health problem among haemodialysis patients.