Chronic itching with no clear cause is the target here — and the exclusions rule out most of the obvious causes.
These studies are recruiting through partner research networks. We may be paid a referral fee if you complete their screening form — this never changes what you pay (nothing) or the compensation the study offers you.
Enrolling adults aged 18 to 90 who have had chronic itching for six months or longer. Not open to itching caused by atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, chronic kidney disease, notalgia paresthetica or medication, nor to people with an autoimmune condition such as lupus, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Screening is free and takes a few minutes. Eligibility and any compensation are confirmed by the study team, not by this site.
Chronic pruritus means itching that has lasted six weeks or longer, and severe chronic pruritus is genuinely debilitating: it disrupts sleep, concentration and mood in ways that people who have not experienced it consistently underestimate. Research in this area has picked up considerably, driven by a better understanding of the nerve signalling behind the itch.
Studies are currently enrolling US adults aged 18 to 90 who have had chronic itching for six months or longer. Before you invest time in a screening form, read the exclusion list below carefully — it is unusually long, and it excludes most of the conditions people assume would qualify them.
The inclusion criteria are broad: 18 to 90, itching for six months or more. The exclusions are where nearly everyone is filtered out, because the studies target itching without an identified underlying cause.
You are generally not eligible if your itching is caused by:
You are also generally excluded if you have an autoimmune condition — lupus, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or rheumatoid arthritis among them.
Eczema and psoriasis together account for a very large share of chronic itching, so a great many people who read this page in good faith will not qualify. We would rather say that plainly here than have you fill in three forms to find out. If one of those conditions is the cause of your itch, research specific to it is a far better avenue — those are separate, active research areas.
What remains after those exclusions is chronic pruritus of unknown origin, sometimes recorded as CPUO, along with certain forms of nerve-driven itch. This is itching that has been investigated and has not been traced to a skin condition, a kidney problem, a medication or an autoimmune disease.
In practice, people who qualify have usually already been through a diagnostic process: bloodwork, possibly a skin biopsy, sometimes a dermatology or neurology referral, ending without a clear answer. If you have never had your itching medically evaluated, that evaluation is the more useful first step — both for your health and because study screening will ask what has already been ruled out.
An online form checks the headline criteria: age, duration, and the main exclusions. Given how long that exclusion list is, most people find out at this stage. If you pass, a coordinator calls to go through your history in more detail, and a site visit follows if things still look like a fit.
Expect questions about how long the itch has lasted, where on the body, what makes it worse, what treatments you have tried, and what has already been ruled out. Having your diagnostic history to hand makes the call substantially shorter.
Screening is free at every stage, and compensation for time and travel is set by each study's protocol and disclosed in writing before you enroll — US studies generally pay $75 to $4,500 per completed study depending on the visit schedule.
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Get trial alertsSevere chronic pruritus is measured in research using the same kinds of quality-of-life instruments used for chronic pain, and it scores comparably badly. Sleep disruption is the most common consequence, and the scratch-damage-itch cycle can leave skin permanently altered.
That is the reason studies exist at all, and the reason the field is looking at nerve signalling pathways rather than treating itch as a skin problem to be moisturised. If you have been told your itching is "just dry skin" despite months of it, a proper dermatological or neurological evaluation is warranted — regardless of whether a study is the right route for you.
Not the studies currently enrolling here. Atopic dermatitis is an explicit exclusion, because these protocols target itching without an identified underlying skin condition. Eczema research is a separate and very active field, and studies specific to it recruit independently.
Six months or longer for the currently enrolling studies. Chronic pruritus is clinically defined at six weeks, but these protocols set a higher bar because they are studying persistent, treatment-resistant itch.
The opposite, generally. These studies target chronic pruritus of unknown origin — itching that has been investigated without a clear cause being found. If a specific cause has been identified, it usually falls under one of the exclusions.
Autoimmune conditions including lupus, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis are exclusions for the currently enrolling studies. They can drive itching through their own mechanisms, which would confound what the study is trying to measure.
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