Itch or pruritus attains an innate defence mechanism of the body, serving as an alarm response to damage or harm. A selection of past research indicated that individuals experiencing pruritic...Show moreItch or pruritus attains an innate defence mechanism of the body, serving as an alarm response to damage or harm. A selection of past research indicated that individuals experiencing pruritic symptoms due to a dermatological condition, express selective attentional focus (attentional bias) towards itch. The alarming effect of a pruritic sensation, is potentially pursued by a fear response, which metamorphizes into anxiety. It is often suggested that heightened anxiety follows selective attention to the intimidating, theoretically provoking, stimulus. Anxiety aggravates itch, resulting in a vicious cycle, feasibly by potentiating itch-related anxiety. The rationale of this research lies in unravelling the impact of the psychopathological trait of anxiety, behind both attentional bias and pruritus. It is hypothesized that patients with chronic itch who experience heightened anxiety, report more attentional bias towards itch-related stimuli compared to less anxious patients with chronic itch. The sample consisted of 5 participants with chronic itch symptomatology that were assessed on a spatial cueing task. The statistical assessment was comprised of a mediation analysis. Our results were not in line with our hypothesis. In other words, a non-significant relationship was found between attentional bias and itch, attentional bias, and anxiety as well amongst anxiety and itch. Furthermore, we conclude that either our results do in fact reflect the reality of an inexistent relationship or that specific parameters of the methodology resulted in non-significant findings. Future implications are directed towards a more appropriate population sample and the careful consideration of exclusion criteria from the study.Show less
