Severity Index Cold Urticaria (SICU)

The SICU is the first and so far the only validated questionnaire to assess the severity of disease in patients with cold urticaria. The SICU is easy to use and evaluate, meaningful and suitable for all patients with cold urticaria, regardless of the underlying causes. The SICU will be used in the routine care of patients with cold urticaria to improve and provide the best possible options in treatments and will help in research projects and in clinical studies.

The SICU was developed at the Charité by a team headed by Dr. Dorothea Terhorst-Molawi, Dr. Karsten Weller and Dr. Marcus Maurer. It consists of 13 questions with three to eight possible answers each. The scores of the 13 questions are added together. Based on the total score achieved, the severity of the patient's illness is assessed. The more points achieved, the higher the severity of cold urticaria.

In contrast to the disease activity of cold urticaria, the evaluation of disease severity is based on the overall experience of patients with their cold urticaria since its onset. While the disease activity of cold urticaria is variable, for example, when contact with cold is more frequent or less frequent or when therapy is initiated, the severity of cold urticaria changes little over time and increases but does not decrease when this happens. The SICU is therefore not suitable for continuous monitoring of disease activity or for evaluating the effectiveness of treatment. Rather, the SICU is used at the initial medical contact of patients or before participation in a clinical trial, with the aim of differentiating between patients with severe, moderate and mild cold urticaria. An additional aim is to provide a better way of treatments depending on the patient’s severity of cold urticaria.

The SICU is currently being validated.

Quick Facts SICU
Number of questions: 13
Period queried: Duration of illness since onset
Target group: Children from 12, Adults with cold urticaria
Evaluation: Total score (minimum: 1, maximum: 70)
Time required: < 5 minutes
Evaluation time: < 5 minutes
Copyright: Moxie GmbH (www.moxie-gmbh.de)
Terms of Use: The use of the ACUSI in routine clinical care as well as in the context of non-commercial research is free of charge. For use in clinical studies or commercial research, a small user fee is charged.