Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 19;14(2):624.
doi: 10.3390/jcm14020624.

Unmet Needs in the Management of Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus and the Characteristics of the Ideal Treatment: A Spanish Cross-Sectional Survey from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

Patricia De Sequera  1 , José M Martínez-Sesmero  2 , Isabel Romo  3 , Ana Calvo  4 , Susana Aceituno  4 , Olga Ruiz-Andrés  5 , Juan C Julián-Mauro  6
Affiliations

Unmet Needs in the Management of Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus and the Characteristics of the Ideal Treatment: A Spanish Cross-Sectional Survey from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

Patricia De Sequera et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is underdiagnosed and not fully understood by healthcare professionals, which leads to poor patient management and impacts patients' quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to analyse unmet needs in CKD-aP management and explore the attributes/characteristics that the ideal CKD-aP treatment should have from the perspective of a group of nephrologists, hospital pharmacists, nurses, patient representatives, and regional health authorities in Spain. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted using an e-survey including ad hoc questions (6-point Likert scale) related to unmet needs in CKD-aP and best-worst scaling (BWS) to prioritise the attributes/characteristics of the ideal CKD-aP treatment. The survey was developed from a literature review, a patient focus group, and a multidisciplinary expert committee. Results: A total of 21 people participated, and it was considered, among other aspects, that CKD-aP had a significant impact on patient QoL (4.29/5), but the diagnosis rate and knowledge level of agents involved, as well as current treatment efficacy and safety, were low (1.71/5, 2.19/5, 1.91/5, and 2.67/5, respectively). The attributes "improves overall QoL (physical and mental)", "reduces itch with statistical significance", and "treatment is supported by clinical development/high evidence and has AEMPS (Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices)-approved indication for pruritus" were selected as the most valued attributes. There was a positive balance between best-worst scores (86-5, 71-2, and 78-13 points, respectively). Conclusions: The results show the need to undertake actions to drive relevant changes in current clinical practice to improve CKD-aP diagnosis and management.

Keywords: BWS; CKD; CKD-aP; QoL; attributes; patient management; preferences; pruritus; treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

P.D.S., J.M.M.-S., I.R., and J.C.J.-M. declare that they (or their institutions) have received fees from Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma España S.L. for their advisory roles as members of the Scientific Committee of the project. O.R.-A. is a full-time Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma España S.L. employee. A.C. and S.A. work for an independent research entity that received funding from Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma España S.L. for contributing to the study design; the collection, analyses, or interpretation of the data; project coordination; and the drafting of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Unmet needs identified by participants. CKD-aP: chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus; QoL: quality of life.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Unmet needs identified by subgroups. CKD-aP: chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus; QoL: quality of life.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Preferences about which attributes the ideal CKD-aP treatment should have by subgroups. AEMPS: Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Memoria de Actividades ALCER. 2023. [(accessed on 19 December 2024)]. Available online: https://alcer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/memoria-2023-.pdf.
    1. Evans M., Lewis R.D., Morgan A.R., Whyte M.B., Hanif W., Bain S.C., Davies S., Dashora U., Yousef Z., Patel D.C., et al. A Narrative Review of Chronic Kidney Disease in Clinical Practice: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives. Adv. Ther. 2022;39:33–43. doi: 10.1007/s12325-021-01927-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mehrotra R., Davison S.N., Farrington K., Flythe J.E., Foo M., Madero M., Morton R.L., Tsukamoto Y., Unruh M.L., Cheung M., et al. Managing the symptom burden associated with maintenance dialysis: Conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference. Kidney Int. 2023;104:441–454. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2023.05.019. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Buades J.M., Figueras-Nart I., Goicoechea M., Villanueva R.J.S., Serra-Baldrich E. Information and consensus document for the diagnostic and therapeutic management of pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease in patients on haemodialysis in Spain. Nefrología. 2024;44:465–474. doi: 10.1016/j.nefro.2023.04.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ramírez-Guerrero G., Ronco C., Reis T. Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus: Nomenclature and Treatment—We Need to Take Two Steps Forward. Blood Purif. 2023;52:821–823. doi: 10.1159/000533469. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources