JAAD onlineClinical severity does not reliably predict quality of life in women with alopecia areata, telogen effluvium, or androgenic alopecia
Section snippets
Methods
Participants in this study had been given the diagnosis of AA, TE, or AGA and were receiving treatment at Northwestern University’s Hair Loss Disorders Clinic between March and November 2009. A total of 104 female patients participated in the study that was approved by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board, and all participants provided written informed consent before participation.
Severity of hair loss was assessed by a board-certified dermatologist using Severity of Alopecia
Results
In all, 104 patients were enrolled (n = 23 AA, n = 33 TE, n = 41 AGA, n = 7 unknown). Some measures had missing data so that samples sizes are smaller than 104 depending on the measure being analyzed.
Discussion
Alopecia in women significantly affects self-image, and psychosocial factors often negatively impact patient QoL.4, 5, 9, 11 In seeking to investigate QoL in patients with AA, TE, or AGA, and to compare QoL with HLS as rated by both patient and dermatologist, patient ratings of HLS were determined to be strongly correlated with QoL. The more severe the patient’s hair loss rating, the more bothered the patient is in all 3 Skindex-16 QoL domains (symptoms, emotions, and function).
Furthermore,
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.
Reprints not available from the authors.