Impact on Quality of Life among Females with Diffuse Hair Loss at a Tertiary Care Centre: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: There is an important link between hair and identity, especially for women. Although, hair loss is a benign problem, experience of alopecia or hair loss is psychologically damaging, causing intense emotional suffering and personal, social and work related problems. Aim: To assess the impact of diffuse hair loss on the Quality of Life (QoL) among females with the help of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based cross- sectional study conducted over a period of one year from February 2019 to February 2020. All female patients more than 18 years with complaints of diffuse hair loss attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department (OPD) of Vinayaka Mission’s Kirupananda Variyar Medical College and Hospital, Tamil Nadu, India, were recruited and QoL was assessed in them using the DLQI scale. For statistical analysis, Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to compare quantitative variables, while Fisher’s-exact test was used to analyse qualitative data. Post- hoc ANOVA was used to test the statistical significance within the groups and a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 100 female patients with diffuse hair loss, out of which most commonly seen was Acute Telogen Effluvium (ATE) in 52 patients followed by Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL) in 30 patients and Chronic Telogen Effluvium (CTE) in 18 patients. Majority of the study subjects were in the age group of 18-39 years (64%). The mean age of the study population was 35.36±10.30 years. The mean duration of hair loss was 8.14±8.639 months. Majority (92%) of females had moderate to severe effect on the QoL. The mean DLQI was significantly higher in FPHL (8.77±1.83) and ATE (8.73±1.98) as compared to CTE (p-value=0.014). The mean DLQI was highest (8.70±2.253) in the younger age range of 18-29 years (p-value=0.027) and also in those with duration of hair loss more than one year (9±1.76) (p-value=0.0381). Conclusion: Diffuse hair loss in females has a moderate to severe impact on the QoL as assessed by the DLQI. There is a strong association seen between DLQI and age, duration of disease and type of hair loss.