A Comparative Study of Pruritus Sine Materia in Haart Naive and Haart Experienced Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Nigeria

Background: Pruritus is one of the most common symptoms encountered in patients with HIV and it arises from a spectrum of dermatoses of diverse etiologies; a few are peculiar to patients with HIV while others are not. Pruritus without the presence of dermatoses (pruritus sine materia) is also common and may be severe enough to provoke sleep loss and significant psychological stress.

Aim: To compare pruritus sine materia in HAART experienced and HAART naive patients in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.

Methods: This was a comparative cross sectional study that involved 330 HAART experienced patients and 330 HAART naive patients. Patients were evaluated for idiopathic pruritus. P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of the HAART experienced group and HAART naïve group were 42.39± 10.1 yrs and 39.9±11.2 yrs respectively. The HAART naive population was 330 (218 females and 112 males) with a female to male ratio of 1.9:1.The HAART experienced population was 330 (247 female and 83 males) with a female to male ratio of 3:1. The median CD4 count of the HAART naive group was significantly lower than the HAART experienced group (275.5 vs 487 cells/µ p<0.01). The prevalence of pruritus sine materia was 19(5.8%) in the HAART naïve group and 6(1.8%) in the HAART experienced group (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Pruritus sine materiae was more common in HAART naive HIV infected patients compared to HAART experienced patients.