Pediatric Alopecia Areata Affects Patients, Family Members' Quality of Life

Findings showed the severity of alopecia areata is indirectly proportional to the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their family members and directly proportional to the burden.

A nationwide multicenter questionnaire study was used to measure the QoL and burden on family members of patients with pediatric alopecia areata.

The study included 268 patients between the ages of 5 and 18 years with alopecia areata at 22 hospitals between March 1, 2017, and February 28, 2018.

Patients and their parents completed the modified Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and the modified Dermatitis Family Impact (mDFI) surveys. The Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) survey scores were utilized to measure the disease severity.

“Our study found that the efficacy and satisfaction of previous treatments of alopecia areata decreased as the severity of the disease increased,” wrote study authors.

Traditional medicines and home-based therapies increased with the increasing severity of the disease, but patients felt limited efficacy.

Patients with extensive alopecia areata had higher CDLQI and mDFI scores compared to patients with mild to moderate alopecia areata.

As the severity of the disease increased so did the economic and time burden of the family members.

“Physicians need to understand these characteristics of pediatric alopecia areata and provide appropriate intervention to patients and their family members,” concluded researchers.

Reference:
Choi JW, Kim YH, Kwak H, et al. Impact of pediatric alopecia areata on quality of life of patients and their family members: a nationwide multicenter questionnaire study. Ann Dermatol. 2022; 34(4):237-244. doi:10.5021/ad.21.202