Development of the pruritus-associated stress scale: a cross-sectional pilot study

作者：Svenja Royeck, Johanna S. Papathanassiou, Angelika Weigel, Nell Kindt, Bernd Löwe, Christian Meß, Claudia Zeidler, Felix Witte, Konstantin Agelopoulos, Henning Wiegmann, Stefan W. Schneider, Sonja Ständer · 发表于：Frontiers in Medicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fmed.2025.1683259 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Dermatology and Skin Diseases、Psoriasis: Treatment and Pathogenesis、Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Treatments

Background: A significant relationship exists between perceived stress and the exacerbation and perpetuation of chronic pruritic dermatoses. Despite this, there is a notable absence of validated tools to specifically measure pruritus-associated stress. Objective: To develop and pilot the Pruritus-Associated Stress Scale (PASS), a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for assessing pruritus-associated stress. Patients and methods: Patients with chronic prurigo (CPG), atopic dermatitis (AD), and chronic pruritus on non-lesional skin (CPNL) were recruited at a German university center. They were interviewed on pruritus-associated stress, and perceived stress using the PSS-10 and PSQ-30 questionnaires, to compile the first PASS version in accordance with the guidelines for PROM development. Subsequently, a second patient cohort was interviewed to refine the items of the PASS instrument based on impact analysis, interitem and item-total correlation, and internal consistency reliability. Results: Of 55 patients (15 with AD, 20 with CPG, and 20 with CPNL; 61.8% female; mean age 61.0 ± 15.4 years), who participated in the item selection phase, 94.5% reported pruritus-associated stress in the previous 2 weeks. The preliminary PASS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91). The 12 items that showed strong impact scores addressed nervousness, therapeutic strategies for managing pruritus-associated stress, fatigue, and urges to scratch more frequently or int...