Association Between Hair Diseases and COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Stress: A Cross-Sectional Study Analysis

May 2022 in “ Frontiers in Medicine ”

Ashrafur Rahaman Mahadi, Md. Abdur Rafi, Tasnim Shahriar, Senjuti Seemanta, Md. Golam Rabbani, Munjarin Akter, Mahabubul Islam Majumder, M. Tasdik Hasan

telogen effluvium alopecia areata scalp seborrheic dermatitis psychosocial stress hair loss COVID-19-related stress TE AA SD

TLDR The study suggests pandemic stress might worsen or trigger hair loss problems.

The cross-sectional study involved 404 undergraduate medical students in Bangladesh and investigated the link between hair diseases and COVID-19 pandemic-related stress. The study found that 61.13% of participants experienced telogen effluvium (TE), 24.75% had alopecia areata (AA), and 57.67% had scalp seborrheic dermatitis (SD). Over half of the participants reported COVID-19-related fear and traumatic stress symptoms (56.9% and 59.4% respectively), and 35.4% had high COVID-19-related student stress. Male participants were twice as likely to have AA than females, and smokers had a four times higher risk for developing TE and a three times higher risk for developing AA than non-smokers. The study suggests that the psychosocial stress caused by the pandemic may exacerbate or initiate these hair loss problems. However, a causal effect could not be established due to the study's limitations, including its self-reported and cross-sectional nature. Further longitudinal and exploratory studies are recommended.

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