Frequency and Severity of Pruritus and Its Related Factors among Patients under Hemodialysis at Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Zahedan

End stage renal disease (ESRD) due to the inability of the kidneys to excrete toxins is clearly associated with many physical complications, such as skin disorders, itching and etc. The severity of pruritus varies and has varied in different societies. Considering the different statistics observed in various researches on the high prevalence of pruritus in hemodialysis patients and its adverse effects on their health, we intend to investigate the prevalence of uremic pruritus and its related factors in patients under hemodialysis at Ali Ibn Abi Talib Hospitalin Zahedan in 2019.

A descriptivecross-sectional study was performed on 100 patients who underwent dialysis in Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in 1398. Tools used for data collection was a questionnaire for demographic details and Jusipovich questionnaire. Laboratory information from patient records were entered in the information form. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 21.

The mean age of patients was 46.17 years. 56% of patients were female and 44% were male. 46% of patients had pruritus, of which 50% (23 cases)had mild pruritus, 28.26% (13 cases) moderate and 21.7% (10 cases) had severe pruritus. The average age of patients with mild pruritus was 45 years (31-67 years),in patients with moderate pruritus was 51 years (range 26 to 66 years) and in patients with severe pruritus was 49.5 (27-67years).

In the present study, none of the factors such as dialysis adequacy, sex, serum phosphorus level, calcium, number of dialysis sessions, age, parathyroid hormone were significantly associated with the severity of pruritus in hemodialysis patients.