Prurito crónico y obesidad. Servicio de dermatología y nutrición. Hospital Luis Vernaza. 2018.

Abstract

Background: Pruritus is an unpleasant sensation that induces the desire to scratch. Chronic itching is one that lasts 6 weeks or more. Of all the cases, 8% corresponds to itching of neuropathic origin, and between 10 to 50% pruritus is a manifestation of a systemic disease. Its prevalence varies according to certain population characteristics. Materials and methods: An observational, analytical, cross-sectional and prospective study was carried out, taking into account those patients seen in the outpatient clinic of Nutrition of the Luis Vernaza Hospital during a period of six months, who have a higher body mass index (BMI) or equal to 30kg / m2, older than 15 years. Patients who did not sign informed consent were excluded. Results: 232 consecutive patients with obesity were evaluated, of which 27.2% (63/232) presented chronic pruritus. 73% (46/63) were women. The mean age was 52.68 years ± 14.60 SD. Chronic pruritus occurred in 22.86% in grade I obesity, 38.89% in grade II and 42.86% in grade III. The most frequent site of pruritus was lower limbs (33.3%). The severity scale 5D was 12.61 ± 2.31 DS Conclusions: Chronic pruritus has a high prevalence in obese people, and its frequency is related to the degree of obesity, sex, age, and it does not seem to be influenced by the presence or absence of comorbidities, so it could be interpreted as a primary manifestation of the disease.