The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a pruritus intervention program on pruritus and sleep satisfaction in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

This study was designed for a nonequivalent control group repeated measures quasi-experimental study. Hemodialysis patients were recruited from a kidney center at a university hospital located in G city, Korea. The subjects consisted of 43 patients 21 for the experimental group and 22 for the control group. The 2-week pruritus intervention program was given to the experimental group only.. An analytical survey was done before and after the pruritus intervention program.

There was a significant decrease in pruritus and increase in sleep satisfaction in the experimental group compared to the control group. There was significant improvement in clinical symptoms and sleep satisfaction after completing the pruritus intervention program in the experimental group.

Pruritus intervention program in hemodialysis patients decreased pruritus severity and increased sleep satisfaction, which can be used as an efficient nursing intervention for hemodialysis patients.

Hypertrophic scarring and depression are the principal problems of burn rehabilitation. This study was done to verify the effects of skin rehabilitation massage therapy (SRMT) on pruritus, skin status, and depression for Korean burn survivors.

A pretest-posttest design using a nonequivalent control group was applied to examine the effects of SRMT for 3 months in a group of 18 burn survivors. The major dependent variables-including pruritus, objective and subjective scar status, and depression-were measured at the beginning and at the end of the therapy to examine the effects of SRMT.

Burn survivors receiving SRMT showed reduced pruritus, improved skin status, and depression. The remaining scar also showed improvement in skin pigmentation, pliability, vascularity, and height (compared to the surrounding skin) as measured on the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS).

The findings demonstrate that SRMT for burn survivors may improve their scars both objectively and subjectively, and also reduce pruritus and depression.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aroma massage on pruritus, skin pH, skin hydration and sleep in elders in long-term care hospitals.

The participants were elders over 65 years old admitted to long-term care. They were assigned to the experimental group (26) or control group (28). Data were collected from May to August, 2012. Visual Analogue Scale and Verran and Snyder-Halpern Sleep scale were used to identify levels of pruritus and sleep. A skin-pH meter and moisture checker were used to measure skin pH and skin hydration. Aroma massage was performed three times a week for 4 weeks for elders in the experimental group. The data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 17.0 program.

There were significant differences in pruritus, skin pH and skin hydration between the two groups. However there was no significant difference in sleep.

The results indicate that aroma massage is effective in reducing pruritus, skin pH and increasing skin hydration in elders. Therefore, this intervention can be utilized in clinical practice as an effective nursing intervention to reduce pruritus in elders in long-term care hospitals.