BACKGROUND: Pruritus affects the quality of life (QoL) in the patients. However, little is known of the impacts of itching on the QoL in the literature. OBJECTIVE: In this study, a questionnaire eliciting specific responses about pruritus was used to determine the effect of itching and its severity on QoL in chronic pruritic patients. METHODS: One hundred ten adult patients with chronic pruritus were surveyed. Once itch severity had been self-reported by patients, together with Skindex-29, they have been given the 18-item Pruritus-related Life Quality Index (PLQI) questionnaire, which was used to generated the new index. RESULTS: Significant correlations have been found between the pruritus severity score of participants and their total Skindex-29 (p<0.001) with its function, emotion and symptom subscale scores (p<0.001 for each). Also, significant correlations were evident between total PLQI (p<0.001) and its psychosocial negativities, difficulties in everyday activities and social live subscale scores (p<0.001 for each). In particular, the emotion subscale of Skindex-29 (p=0.02) and psychosocial negativity subscale of PLQI (p=0.02) were significantly high in psychopathologic patients. A highly positive statistical correlation between Skindex-29 and PLQI scales was evident (r=0.845, p<0.001). For reliability, Cronbach's coefficient a coefficients were 0.931 for the Skindex-29 scale and 0.918 for the PLQI scale. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that chronic pruritus appreciably reduces the QoL. PLQI could be used in the development of new questionnaires for determining the QoL of patients with chronic itch.
Adult ; Humans ; Pruritus ; Quality of Life ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the handwashing behaviors of intensive care nurses based on personal statements, and to identify the microorganisms represented in the hand flora preshift and postshift. METHODS: This prospective study was performed with 60 intensive care nurses between January and December 2008, at a training and research hospital at a university in Turkey. Samples were taken from the hands of the nurses for bacteriological culture, using the bag-broth method, at the beginning and end of the shift. The samples were cultured aerobically and the colonies that grew were counted and identified. The nurses completed a self-report questionnaire, and their answers were evaluated. RESULTS: The frequency of handwashing by participants during each shift was 32.8 +/- 13.9. Overall, 65% of the nurses preferred alcohol-based antiseptic solutions for handwashing, 95% used paper towels to dry their hands, and 98.3-100% of the nurses washed their hands after performing care procedures. The Escherichia coli and coagulase negative Staphylococcus species were found to be at significantly higher levels in the postshift hand culture samples when compared to the preshift hand culture sample values. Enterobacter cloacae was the only species found in the postshift hand culture samples of the nurses. CONCLUSIONS: The number of colonies of the microorganisms in the hand flora of the nurses increased postshift. The handwashing behavior of intensive care nurses must be improved as they nurse critical patients.
Coagulase ; Enterobacter cloacae ; Escherichia coli ; Hand ; Hand Disinfection ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Prospective Studies ; Staphylococcus ; Turkey ; Surveys and Questionnaires