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. 2019 Jun 24;5(6):FSO399.
doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2019-0036.

Presence and characteristics of senile pruritus among Danish elderly living in nursing homes

Nanna Dyhre-Petersen  1 , Parisa Gazerani  1
Affiliations

Presence and characteristics of senile pruritus among Danish elderly living in nursing homes

Nanna Dyhre-Petersen et al. Future Sci OA. .

Abstract

Aim: To explore the pattern of occurrence and characteristics of senile pruritus among elderly living in nursing homes in the Northern region of Denmark.

Materials & methods: A Danish questionnaire was developed and distributed to six nursing homes from which 46 residents participated.

Results: The prevalence of chronic itch was 28.9%. Evening-night and autumn-winter with an average daily itch of 30 min were reported. Itch interfered with night sleep and daily activities. Scratching was common with 61.5% accompanying scratch marks. Half of participants reported Xerosis. Cream, cold compress and cold shower were found to be the most effective remedies for itch relief.

Conclusion: The present study revealed a high prevalence of chronic pruritus including cases of senile pruritus that needs further exploration for treatment or preventive strategies.

Keywords: chronic itch; elderly; itch; nursing home; senile pruritus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flowchart of the recruitment of study participants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Bar chart of the numbers of males and females according to age groups. Percentage (%) within the total number of responders is shown on the top of each bar. n = 38, 8 missing.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Pie chart of chronic itch responders’ scratching behavior. The chart shows the percentage of the total number of chronic itch responders, n = 13.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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