Psychosomatic cofactors and psychiatric comorbidity in patients with chronic itch.

BACKGROUND: While psychosomatic factors may be involved in eliciting as well as coping with chronic itch, psychiatric comorbidity often goes unrecognized in dermatological patients.

AIM: To record psychiatric illness, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic pretreatment, and psychotherapy indication in dermatology inpatients with pruritus.

METHODS: A consecutive sample of 109 dermatology inpatients with the symptom of pruritus were examined by interviews with consecutive ratings by experts (using psychiatric ICD-10 diagnoses, the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and the Impairment Score) and self-assessment using the the Eppendorf Itch Questionnaire.

RESULTS: In > 70% of the pruritus patients, 1-6 psychiatric diagnoses could be demonstrated. In > 60%, psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment was recommended. In contrast, almost 90% of the patients had had no previous psychotherapeutic experience.

CONCLUSION: As psychiatric comorbidity in dermatology inpatients suffering from chronic itch is high, dermatology departments should aim for an improvement of their psychosomatic consultation and liaison services.