Quality of Life and Its Association with Androgenetic Alopecia Patients in Shanghai: A Cross-Sectional Study

SathishKumar Moorthy,1,&ast; Linli Yu,1,&ast; Lin Peng,1 Liangliang Shen,1 Yu Han,1 Zikai Zhang,2 Yanqiao Li,3 Xin Huang1 1Department of Dermatology, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Science, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Dermatology, Institute of Dermatology and Venereology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610072, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xin Huang, Department of Dermatology, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065, People’s Republic of China, Email alida_huang@163.comBackground: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of androgenetic alopecia patients has become increasingly important, but the influencing factors associated with the different domains are poorly understood.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the influencing factors in HRQoL of androgenetic alopecia patients and identify its strongly associated domains.Patients and Methods: We enrolled 170 androgenetic alopecia patients. HRQoL was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHO-BREF), and Hairdex.Results: HRQoL was significantly impaired in patients < 30 years, (WHO-BREF: P=0.022, Hairdex: P=0.004), less educated (WHO-BREF: P=0.021, Hairdex: P=0.003), single patients (Hairdex: P=0.023), and urban residence (Hairdex: P=0.043). By domains, those < 30 years were impaired by physical health (P=0.038) and psychological (P=0.030) by WHO-BREF, and symptoms (P=0.002) and emotions (P=0.002) by Hairdex. Singles were impaired by symptoms (P=0.020), and emotions (P=0.009) by Hairdex. Less-educated individuals had impaired all domains in the WHO-BREF and Hairdex, except for physical health. Women had impaired symptoms (P=0.013) and stigmatization (P=0.041) in Hairdex.Conclusion: Androgenetic alopecia is associated with significantly reduced HRQoL in young, less educated, and single patients. Dermatologists should inquire about Quality of Life and appropriately support androgenetic alopecia patients.Keywords: quality of life, androgenetic alopecia, WHO-BREF, Hairdex