Assessment of itch severity and affected body surface area in classic lichen planus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66344/jpad.v29i1.1323Keywords:
Classic lichen planus, itch, body surface area, BSA, classic LP, LP, lichen planusAbstract
Introduction Lichen Planus (LP) is an itchy dermatosis. It is of different types with classic LP being a common type. Itching is an important feature of disease that affects the quality of life. The study is designed to assess the severity of itch in classic LP in relation to the body surface area (BSA) involved.
Materials and Methods 110 consecutive patients with classic LP who presented to Benazir Bhutto Hospital were enrolled to assess the severity of itch and its relationship to involved BSA. Severity was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale and BSA involved was measured using hand surface area equal to 1% of total BSA. Ordinal grouping of both variables was done into three categories i.e. none/mild, moderate and severe. Statistical Analysis was done using SPSS version 23.
Results Out of 110 patients, 31.8% had mild involvement, 48.2% had moderate involvement, and 20% had severe involvement in terms of affected BSA in classic LP. Severity of itch was none or mild in 15.5%, moderate in 34.5%, and severe in 50% of patients. A strong correlation between BSA involved and severity of itch was observed using Kendall’s tau-b (Tb=0.280, p=0.01) and Spearman’s test (Rs=0.307, p=0.001).
Conclusion This demonstrates that Classic LP is an itchy condition with severity of itching directly proportional to BSA involved.
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Copyright (c) 2019 Nadia Waqas, Muhammad Amer Saleem, Sumaira Abdullah, Abdul Quddus Butt, Sadaf Khan
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