Questionnaire based observational study of association of pruritus with intake of food items in common skin disorders

Abstract

Pruritus is the commonest symptom of majority of dermatological diseases. Various chemicals in certain foods are known to trigger release of pruritogenic mediators causing pruritus. Also, there are myths about diet in the population that consumption of certain food items exacerbates their pruritus, which needs proper patient counseling.Questionnaire-based observational study of association of pruritus with intake of food items in common skin disorders. The duration of this cross-sectional study was 6 months in a tertiary care hospital in Patna. Cases with pruritic skin disorders were asked about their food habits and the association of any specific food item with exacerbation in itching by using a fixed set of questions. Among 306 patients, 147 patients complained of exacerbation in pruritus after eating certain food items (p-value- 0.02), out of which 69 had issues with single food item and 72 patients had association with multiple eatables. In specific food, it was observed that spicy vegetables like Brinjal, jackfruit, onion, and garlic were the most common culprits causing pruritus in 86 patients (p-value- 0.035), which was followed by fish which exacerbated pruritus in 45 patients (p-value- 0.055). When the skin is inflamed by any pathology, its threshold to flare is low and various food items may trigger a pruritic sensation. So, proper counseling of such food items will help to relieve the pruritus and hence better management of the underlying diseases.