Androgenetic alopecia associated with decreased health-related quality of life

Androgenetic alopecia was significantly associated with health-related quality of life but not with depressive symptoms, according to a study.

“As a part of self-image, hair is a social construct that is strongly connected to one’s identity,” Chun-Hsien Huang, MD, of the department of dermatology at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, Taiwan, and colleagues wrote. “Hair loss affects self-image, causes trichodynia, and plays a role in emotions and social activity, which may be associated with psychiatric problems and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL).”

Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 41 case series, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, cohort studies and randomized clinical trials that evaluated psychiatric disorders or HRQOL in 7,995 patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA).

Pooled Dermatology Life Quality Index score was 8.16 (95% CI, 5.62-10.71), and a moderate impairment of emotions was suggested with the pooled Hair-Specific Skindex-29 score meta-analysis with a score of 29.22 (95% CI, 24.17-34.28).

A meta-analysis of depression symptoms, using the pooled Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, showed a score of 14.98 (95% CI, 14.28-15.68), which did not indicate depression.

“This systemic review and meta-analysis was the first, to our knowledge, to examine HRQOL, depression and self-esteem in patients with AGA,” the authors wrote. “It illustrated the association of AGA with moderate impairment of HRQOL, which was greater than for alopecia areata and other common dermatoses, such as contact dermatitis and acne vulgaris.”