Comorbidity of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with alopecia areata in a child and adolescent psychiatry clinical sample.
BACKGROUND
This study reports the comorbidity of lifetime psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with alopecia areata (AA) in a child and adolescent psychiatry clinical sample.


METHODS
Fourteen patients with AA were interviewed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria and the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime-Farsi Version (KSADS-PL-Farsi Version).


RESULTS
The rate of at least one psychiatric disorder was 78%. The rate of major depressive disorder was 50%, and the most common anxiety disorder was obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (35.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
There is a very high rate of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with AA. This high rate of OCD has not been reported previously. There seems to be a clinical association between OCD and AA in children and adolescents.
Ghanizadeh
Ahmad
A
Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. ghanizad@sina.tums.ac.ir
D000293:Adolescent; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications