Relations between the characteristics and psychological comorbidities of chronic pruritus differ between men and women: women are more anxious than men

Summary Background Although sex and gender are becoming more important in diagnostics and therapy, there is still little knowledge about sex‐specific differences in chronic pruritus (CP). Objectives To compare, taking into consideration the characteristics of pruritus, sex‐specific differences in psychological symptoms in patients with CP. Methods Sociodemographic data, data on the clinical characteristics of the skin and CP were documented over a 1‐year period in all patients attending the Competence Center Chronic Pruritus of the University Hospital Münster for the first time. All patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Student's t‐tests for independent study groups and linear regression analyses were applied. Results A total of 619 patients (278 men, 341 women) were included in the analysis. Women were more anxious than men, but were not more depressed. A linear regression analysis indicated that depression and anxiety scores in women were related to the average intensity of pruritus during the previous 4 weeks and to a more generalized pruritus at the beginning of CP; older age in women also correlated with the scores on the depression subscale. Interestingly, the associations were different in men: scores on the depression scale were associated with the diagnosis of CP pruritus with multiple scratch lesions. Conclusions There are sex‐specific differences in the relationship between the psychological symptoms and clinical characteristics of CP; higher anxiety scores were achieved by women. Whether psychological symptoms can be reversed when CP and scratch lesions improve is an issue that needs further exploration. What's already known about this topic? Chronic pruritus (CP) is a symptom with a negative impact on quality of life and is known to be associated with anxiety and depression. To our knowledge, no study has investigated sex‐specific differences in this context. What does this study add? We found sex‐specific differences in anxiety levels and distinct pruritus characteristics and clinical features in relation to anxiety and depression. We believe that these findings are of importance to clinicians and basic researchers.