Yosipovitch et al developed a scale for describing the impact of pruritus on a patient's sleep. The authors are from Rabin Medical Center and Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Parameters:
(1) difficulty in falling to sleep
(2) disturbance in sleep
(3) need for soporifics
|
Response for Each Parameter
|
Points
|
|
never
|
0
|
|
rarely
|
1
|
|
sometimes
|
2
|
|
often
|
3
|
|
almost always
|
4
|
where:
• The sleep difficulties from pruritus need to be distinguished from depression or other conditions.
• The original responses were almost always, sometimes and never.
• One option is to change the point assignments to 0, 0.5, 1, 3 and 5 to reflect nonlinear impact.
• Another modification would be to add a measure for overall sleep quality.
• A person who needs a soporific often or almost always is at risk for dependency if an addictive agent is used.
total score =
= SUM(points for all 3 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 12
• The higher the score the more the patient's sleep is impacted by the pruritus.
