Using Qualitative Methods to Establish the Clinically Meaningful Threshold for Treatment Success for the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) Score
April 2021
in “
Research Square (Research Square)
”
TLDR Achieving 80% or more scalp hair regrowth is considered a successful treatment for significant hair loss.
The study "Using qualitative methods to establish the clinically meaningful threshold for treatment success for the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score" aimed to determine a clinically significant threshold for treatment success in patients with alopecia areata (AA). The study involved 10 expert dermatologists and 30 adult and adolescent patients with a history of ≥50% scalp hair loss. The results showed that expert clinicians considered 80% or 75% scalp hair regrowth as a treatment success, while patient responses ranged from 70 - 90% (median 80%). The study concluded that achieving 80% or more scalp hair (SALT score ≤20) was an appropriate individual treatment success threshold indicating clinically meaningful improvement for patients with ≥50% scalp hair loss. Both clinician and patient input were found to be critical in understanding the clinical benefit meaningful to patients.
