title: Itch as a patient-reported symptom in ambulatory care visits in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  European studies have shown that itch is a widespread symptom, yet little is known about its frequency in the United States.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to describe ambulatory care visits to clinicians in the United States for which itch was coded as a patient symptom.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study uses retrospective data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1999 through 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Itch was coded as a symptom for an average of 7 million visits per year or approximately 1% of all outpatient visits, which was nearly 40% of the number of visits for the symptom of low back pain. Patients seen in visits for itch were more likely to be black or Asian than other patients (20% vs 14%). They were also more likely than other patients to receive a new medication (68% vs 36%) and were over twice as likely to receive 2 or more new medications (31% vs 14%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Secondary data sets may not optimally capture patient reports and some of the procedures or medications may have been ordered for reasons other than itch.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Visits to clinicians for itch represent a sizeable proportion of ambulatory care visits in the United States, and research on the epidemiology, treatments, and causes of itch should be a priority.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California; Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shive
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Linos
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Mackenzie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wehner
authors.forename: Mary-Margaret
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011537:Pruritus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D057566:Self Report; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey; clinic; clinic visits; epidemiology; itch; outpatient; pruritus; quality of life; skin