Papers of the Week

Chronic pruritus is a common and distressing condition that has serious emotional and psychosocial consequences. Due to its subjective nature, self-report questionnaires are widely implemented as cost-effective measures to gauge the severity of chronic pruritus. The current study is aimed at validating the 5-D itch scale in three ethnic groups-Black, Asian, and Hispanic-with the well-validated Itch Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and Worst Itch NRS (WI-NRS) and developing its cutoff value using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and inspection of the area under the curve (AUC) across ethnic groups. At the same time, it is aimed at comparing the concurrent prevalence of itch and depression in these populations, who often form ethnic minorities in many countries. The current study addresses the knowledge gap of cultural adaptation of the 5-D pruritus scale for greater usage.