ISQ Scores and Itch Intensity: A Study on Chronic Itch in Patients

Apologies for the previous inaccurate response. After careful review, there is one grammatical error in the provided text. Here is the corrected version:

'ISQ and its factor scores did not show any significant correlation with illness duration or age of onset. However, there was a positive correlation between ISQ scores and the average itch intensity of the last week and maximum itch intensity of the last day (Average itch intensity last week: r = 0.385***, p = 0.000 for ISQ; r = 0.376***, p < 0.001 for non-artificial itch; r = 0.206*, p = 0.042 for human-induced tickling; r = 0.371**, p = 0.000 for very mild itch; Maximum itch intensity last day: r = 0.254*, p = 0.012 for ISQ; r = 0.232*, p = 0.022 for non-artificial itch; r = 0.110, p = 0.283 for human-induced tickling; r = 0.289*, p = 0.004 for very mild itch). These results indicate that higher ISQ scores were associated with greater clinical itch intensity.

Subsequently, we investigated the predictive capacity of ISQ scores compared to depression, anxiety, and POEM in relation to chronic itch intensity in patients. The average itch intensity of the last week was chosen as the indicator to measure chronic itch intensity because it better represented the overall itch severity experienced by patients over an appropriate period of time. Through linear regression analysis, we examined the association between the dependent variable, the average itch intensity of the last week, and several independent variables, including ISQ scores, BDI, SAI, TAI, and POEM scores. Initially, we controlled for age and gender and then employed the stepwise selection method. The findings revealed that ISQ scores emerged as the most robust predictor, accounting for 14.2% of the variance. TAI scores accounted for 4.7% of the variance. However, the other variables did not significantly contribute to the model (see Table 14). The Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) used to evaluate the severity of AD or chronic eczema does not predict the level of itch intensity in patients.'