title: Body concept of patients with chronic pruritus in relation to scratch lesions and psychic symptoms.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are only a few studies about the body concept of patients with chronic pruritus. We examined the body concept of this group of patients taking into account subgroup-specific differences, limitations of quality of life and the comparison to patients with eating disorders and a healthy control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  284 participants with chronic pruritus filled in the Frankfurt Body Concept Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Dermatology Life Quality Index. Statistical analysis was performed using t tests, variance analysis and Pearson's correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with chronic pruritus had a more negative body concept than healthy individuals but a less negative concept than patients with eating disorders. Higher levels of depression and anxiety were related to a more negative body image.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The body concept of patients with chronic pruritus should be taken into consideration when planning therapy. Whether the body concept changes after successful treatment has to be examined in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stumpf
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ständer
authors.forename: N Q
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanneberger
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heuft
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011537:Pruritus / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries; D055815:Young Adult