Investigation of Eating Patterns Among Individuals With Chronic Urticaria

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a long-lasting inflammatory skin disease, characterized by recurrent wheals and/or angioedema lasting more than six weeks, often impairing quality of life. Recent findings suggest that eating behavior may play a role in CU symptom exacerbation. This study aimed to evaluate eating behaviors in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and explore their relationship with disease activity and duration. A total of 83 CSU patients and 81 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Participants completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-Revised 18 (TFEQ-R18) to assess eating behaviors, and Beck Depression (BDI) and Anxiety (BAI) Inventories to evaluate psychological symptoms. Disease activity was measured using the Urticaria Activity Score over seven days (UAS7). Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26 (Released 2019; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States), with p<0.05 considered significant. Patients with CSU had significantly higher BDI (11.11 ± 7.65 vs. 5.14 ± 4.26; p<0.001) and BAI (12.76 ± 9.32 vs. 5.02 ± 5.91; p<0.001) scores compared to controls. Uncontrolled eating scores were significantly higher in the CSU group (46.54 ± 19.88 vs. 34.06 ± 9.22; p<0.001), whereas emotional eating and cognitive restraint did not differ significantly. UAS7 scores showed a strong positive correlation with uncontrolled eating (r=0.515, p<0.001) and a moderate correlation with emotional eating (r=0.376, p<0.001). Patients with CSU exhibit significantly higher uncontrolled eating behaviors, which are positively associated with disease activity, independent of depression or anxiety. Addressing disordered eating patterns may contribute to improved disease management and quality of life in patients with CU.