Psychiatric symptomatology and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with alopecia areata.

BACKGROUND

There is a very limited amount of data available regarding the relationship between alopecia areata (AA) and psychiatric morbidity and quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine the psychiatric state and health-related quality of life (HRQL) of children and adolescents with AA, as well as their relationships with clinical parameters.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 74 children with AA aged 8-18 years. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the psychiatric status and HRQL of the patients. The study and control groups were divided into child and adolescent groups to exclude the effect of puberty on psychological condition.

RESULTS

In the child group, patients had higher state anxiety and trait anxiety scores; they also had lower parent-rated psychosocial and total area HRQL scores than the controls did. In addition, the depression score was prone to show a positive relationship with having AA in the children. In the adolescent group, however, only the state anxiety score had a significant association with AA. All of the parent-rated HRQL scores were also prone to being lower compared with controls in this age group. Regarding determinants of HRQL, prolonged disease duration and later disease onset had positive effects, whereas severity of scalp involvement, trait anxiety and depression had negative effects, for the sample as a whole.

CONCLUSIONS

Alopecia areata is associated with poor psychiatric status and QoL, especially in childhood. The impact of the disease on QoL occurs through both clinical and psychiatric parameters.