Ann Dermatol.  2012 Aug;24(3):311-318. 10.5021/ad.2012.24.3.311.

Quality of Life Assessment in Male Patients with Androgenetic Alopecia: Result of a Prospective, Multicenter Study

• Han SH
• Byun JW
• Lee WS
• Kang H
• Kye YC
• Kim KH
• Kim DW
• Kim MB
• Kim SJ
• Kim HO
• Sim WY
• Yoon TY
• Huh CH
• Hwang SS
• Ro BI
• Choi GS

• KMID: 2265304
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2012.24.3.311

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common hair loss disease with genetic predisposition among men and women, and it may commence at any age after puberty. It may significantly affect a variety of psychological and social aspects of one's life and the individual's overall quality of life (QoL).
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the QoL of AGA patients and discover the factors that can influence the QoL of AGA patients, including previous experience in non-medical hair care, reasons for hospital visits, age, duration, and the severity of AGA.
METHODS
A total of 998 male patients with AGA were interviewed, using the Hair Specific Skindex-29 to evaluate the QoL of AGA patients.
RESULTS
The results of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 on patients with AGA were as follows: symptom scale: 26.3+/-19.5, function scale: 24.0+/-20.1, emotion scale: 32.1+/-21.8, and global score: 27.3+/-19.1. According to this assessment, QoL was more damaged if the patient had severe alopecia, a longer duration of AGA, younger age, had received previous non-medical hair care, and visited the hospital for AGA treatment.
CONCLUSION
This study showed that AGA could harmfully affect the patients' QoL. These findings indicate that dermatologists should address these QoL issues when treating patients with alopecia.

Keyword

Alopecia; Androgenetic; Quality of life

MeSH Terms

Alopecia
Female
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Hair
Humans
Male
Prospective Studies
Puberty
Quality of Life

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Correlation between single variables and QoL in the symptom, function and emotion scales. (A) Patients who had experienced previous non-medical hair care had increasing Skindex scores on the symptom, function and emotion scales (p<0.05). (B) Patients who visited the hospital for AGA treatment had increasing scores on the function and emotion scales (p<0.05). (C) The group aged under 30 had increasing scores on all scales (p<0.01). (D) The group with longer durations of AGA had increasing scores on all scales (p<0.001). (E) Also, the severe group had increasing scores on all scales (p<0.05). QoL: quality of life, AGA: androgenetic alopecia.

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  Fig. 2 Correlation between variables and QoL in the symptom, function and emotion scales. (A) The symptom scale correlated with only previous experience in non-medical hair care, younger age and a longer duration of AGA (p<0.05). (B, C) The function and emotion scales of Hair Specific Skindex-29 correlated with all the clinical profiles, including previous experience in non-medical hair care, hospital visits to treat AGA, younger age, a longer duration of AGA and severe AGA (p<0.05). Especially, patients with a longer duration of AGA showed the most highest level of β in all scale (p<0.001). It result demonstrates that a longer duration of AGA is determined to be strongly correlated with poorer QoL. QoL: quality of life, AGA: androgenetic alopecia.

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  Fig. 3 Global scale of Hair Specific Skindex-29. The results of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 on patients with AGA were as follows: QoL was more damaged if the patient had received previous non-medical hair care, visited the hospital for AGA treatment, younger age, a longer duration of AGA, and had severe alopecia (*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001). AGA: androgenetic alopecia, QoL: quality of life, tx: treatment.

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