Stress, itch and quality of life in chronic urticaria females.

Introduction: Chronic urticaria (CU) belongs to a group of psychodermatological disorders, thus stress can play a significant role in this dermatosis onset and/or exacerbation. On the other hand, the disease itself accompanied by itch, may be a source of distress and could worsen patients' quality of life (QoL).

Aim: The first goal of our study was to compare stress intensity between CU subjects and the control group. The second aim was to investigate the relationships between disease-related parameters (CU severity, itch) and psychological variables (stress and QoL) in CU patients.

Material and methods: Forty-six female patients with CU participated in our study. Thirty-three healthy females constituted a control group. The following methods were applied: Urticaria Activity Score (UAS), Itch Severity Evaluation Questionnaire, Visual analogue scale (VAS), Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) and the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU-Q2oL).

Results: Chronic urticaria patients demonstrated a significantly higher stress level in comparison to the control group ( z = 2.699; p < 0.001). Regarding the total pruritus score, all CU-Q2oL dimensions were affected, except for subscale swelling/mental status. The strongest link was revealed between global itch and QoL subscale embarrassment ( r = 0.51, p < 0.001). There were also statistically significant correlations between stress (VAS scale and SRRS) and QoL (all at least p < 0.05).Conclusions: Taking into account the significant pruritus contribution to QoL impairment, it would be worth employing itch-coping trainings in the CU group. As a consequence, feeling of self-control and self-efficacy could be enhanced, thus resulting in the well-being improvement.