Prevalence and Outcomes of Chronic Kidney Disease Associated Pruritus: International Results from PDOPPS.

Background: Pruritus is common in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Less is known about the prevalence and outcomes of pruritus among patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD). Herein, we describe the prevalence of pruritus and its associations with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and mortality/transfer to HD.

Methods: We analyzed a multicenter, international cohort of PD patients enrolled in the Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS) from 2014-2022. Pruritus was assessed at entry into PDOPPS with a single-question Likert Scale capturing the extent to which patients were bothered by itch ranging from 1: Not at all, to 5: Extremely. The KDQOL-36 and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale assessed various PROs. Moderate to extreme pruritus was defined as a Likert scale score ≥3. The associations of pruritus with PROs were assessed using linear/logistic regression where appropriate. Death or HD transfer was assessed using multivariable Cox regression models.

Results: Overall, 5535 patients from seven countries were included; 43% had moderate to extreme pruritus which was highest in Thailand (50%) and lowest in the United States (33%). The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of moderate to extreme pruritus were higher for diabetes, low albumin, and elevated phosphorus but lower for residual urine volume (aOR= 0.98 per 200 ml increase in 24-hour urine volume, 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.96-1.00, P=0.05). Patients with extreme pruritus had the lowest mental and physical health component scores and a higher burden of other PROs including restless legs and disturbed sleep. Overall, 899 patients died and 1221 transferred to HD. Patients with moderate to extreme pruritus were at higher adjusted risk for death or HD transfer (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.12, 95% CI 1.02-1.23, P=0.02) with similar point estimates for each subcomponent of the composite outcome.

Conclusions: Pruritus is highly prevalent in PD and associated with poor health outcomes. Efforts to better identify and manage pruritus should be considered in this population.