Illness Perception in Patients with Androgenetic Alopecia and Alopecia Areata in China

May 2016 in “ Journal of Psychosomatic Research ”

Nanlan Yu, Huan Tan, Zhiqiang Song, Xichuan Yang

androgenetic alopecia alopecia areata illness perception psychological disorders dermatological quality of life AGA AA QoL

Studysummary This study observed that in patients with androgenetic alopecia, illness perception was linked to higher psychological distress and lower quality of life compared to those with alopecia areata. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

This study from 2016 investigated the role of illness perception in patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and alopecia areata (AA) in China. The study included 342 patients diagnosed with AGA or AA for the first time at the Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China between October 2013 and December 2014. The study found that illness perception was significantly associated with psychological disorders and dermatological quality of life in patients with AGA and AA in China. The study suggests that identifying critical components of illness perception in alopecia patients could help to understand alopecia specificities, design consultations and interventions according to the perception, and improve physical and mental outcomes as well as QoL in alopecia patients.

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