Urticaria from the Neurodermatological Perspective: A Temporal Analysis of Urticaria and Cognition

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU, or CU) is a disease that significantly affects the quality of life of patients. The connection between the cognitive state of an individual and dermatological diseases has been previously reported, and it is known, although not thoroughly investigated, that there is a cognitive and quality of life relation to dermal pathologies. Urticaria is a chronic disease that requires a specialized approach to diagnosis and treatment but also a holistic approach with respect to the consideration of both the pathophysiology of the disease and the cognition status of the patient. The present study aims at analyzing CU score and cognitive indexes with respect to time, as a time series and their subsequent interactions. We have attempted to model the investigated time series in order to unravel possible causative relationships between cognitive/quality of life factors and urticaria. One hundred and eleven patients (29 males/82 females) admitted to our department were diagnosed with CU. CU was estimated on UAS7 score basis, which was used in order to define disease severity. Indexes used for assessing the cognitive and quality of life of patients' status included the Urticaria Control Test (UCT) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Significant correlations were found between UAS7 score and the UCT and DLQI scores, respectively. Interestingly, each score time series was modelled by different sets of equations, indicating the unique effect each one has on the disease, as well as that each score probably is manifested by a different pathophysiological mechanism.