Quality of life in patients with alopecia areata: a hospital‐based cross‐sectional study
December 2015
in “Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology”
TLDR Alopecia areata significantly lowers quality of life, especially in personal and social areas, and more so if the patient is also depressed.
The study, conducted on 60 patients with alopecia areata (AA), found that AA significantly impairs quality of life (QoL), although not as severely as some other skin diseases. Using the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) and three questionnaires (SF-36, DLQI, and Skindex-29), the study revealed that the severity of AA was associated with worse QoL in terms of personal relationships and social functioning. Patients with depression experienced a further reduction in QoL. The study included a demographic of 16 males and 44 females with an average age of 37.35 years. It concluded that while AA does impact QoL, the extent varies, and it is less than the impact from diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and onychomycosis.
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