Taheri Ramin, Behnam Behnaz, Tousi Jafar Allavi, Azizzade Maryam, Sheikhvatan Mohammad Rafiee Mehrdad
Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Acta Dermatovenerol Croat. 2012;20(4):246-50.
Recent clinical studies examined the role of stress as a potential trigger for alopecia areata. However, it is still questioned whether and to what extent stress plays a role in its pathogenesis. We determined whether stressful life events are risk factors in the onset and course of alopecia areata among our population. The study included 61 consecutive patients with alopecia areata who were all outpatients at dermatology clinics of Semnan city. Sixty age- and sex-matched individuals selected among healthy subjects with respect to the diagnosis of alopecia areata served as controls. Stressful events were assessed using Traumatic Events Questionnaire (TEQ). No differences were found in the number as well as mean scores of physical and sexual stressful life time events across the two groups, while patients experienced a greater number of emotional stressing events with higher mean scores than the healthy group. Among different TEQ items, alopecia patients tended to have higher scores on the items indicating history of loss of a family member during childhood and a history of emotional neglect by relatives. In conclusion, loss of family members and emotional neglect by relatives might have major roles in triggering the onset and exacerbation of alopecia areata.
近期的临床研究探讨了压力作为斑秃潜在触发因素的作用。然而，压力在其发病机制中是否起作用以及起多大作用仍存在疑问。我们确定生活压力事件是否是我们研究人群中斑秃发病和病程的风险因素。该研究纳入了61例连续的斑秃患者，他们均为塞姆南市皮肤科门诊的患者。从健康受试者中选取60名年龄和性别匹配且无斑秃诊断的个体作为对照。使用创伤事件问卷（TEQ）评估压力事件。两组在身体和性方面的生活压力事件数量及平均得分上均未发现差异，但患者经历的情感压力事件数量更多，平均得分也高于健康组。在不同的TEQ项目中，斑秃患者在表明童年时期有家庭成员离世史以及有亲属情感忽视史的项目上得分往往更高。总之，家庭成员离世和亲属情感忽视可能在触发斑秃的发病和加重方面起主要作用。
