Scalp Hair Regrowth Beneficial for Patients With Alopecia Areata

According to a study published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, patients with severe alopecia areata (AA) who experience scalp hair regrowth show improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological burdens such as anxiety and depression.

This post hoc analysis utilized data from two phase 3 trials involving a total of 1200 patients who were randomized to receive once-daily placebo, baricitinib 2 mg, or baricitinib 4 mg, and were analyzed independently of their treatment allocation. They were categorized based on their scalp hair regrowth status at week 36. The categories were defined as follows: meaningful regrowth (Severity of Alopecia Tool [SALT] score ≤20), intermediate regrowth (≥30% SALT improvement [SALT30] at any postbaseline visit to week 36, but SALT score >20 at week 36), and no/minimal regrowth (never achieved SALT30).

The results showed that patients with meaningful regrowth had significantly greater HRQoL improvements in all Skindex-16 AA domains compared with those with no/minimal regrowth. Additionally, a higher proportion of patients with meaningful regrowth experienced a shift from baseline Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores ≥8 (indicative of anxiety or depression) to scores <8 (considered normal). Specifically, 46.8% of patients with meaningful regrowth showed improvement in anxiety symptoms compared with 26.4% of patients with no/minimal regrowth, and 52.3% of patients with meaningful regrowth showed improvement in depression symptoms compared with 24.0% of patients with no/minimal regrowth. Patients with intermediate regrowth also experienced improvements, although to a lesser extent than those with meaningful regrowth.

“The highest benefit was observed in patients with meaningful regrowth (SALT score ≤20),” the authors concluded.

Reference
Piraccini BM, Ohyama M, Craiglow B, et al. Scalp hair regrowth is associated with improvements in health-related quality of life and psychological symptoms in patients with severe alopecia areata: results from two randomized controlled trials. J Dermatolog Treat. 2023;34(1):2227299. doi:10.1080/09546634.2023.2227299