A Comparative Study on Health-related Quality of Life in Healthy People and Patients with Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory disease which predominantly affects young people and causes hair loss. The disease requires therapeutic management, psychological support and occasional hospitalization. The objective of this analytic casecontrol study was to evaluate health related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with AA compared to healthy people. The data were collected from 57 patients with AA and 57 healthy people. A Persian version of SF-36-item questionnaire was employed for measuring HRQL. The result of the study revealed a significant difference in mean ranks of global HRQL (P<0.0001) especially in the following parameters: role function, feeling, global health perception and sleep status. Based on multivariate regression, the patients' gender and job were found to affect their quality of life. Psychological support of the patients with AA in addition to their medical therapy is highly recommended.