title: Quality of life assessment in male patients with androgenetic alopecia: result of a prospective, multicenter study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common hair loss disease with genetic predisposition among men and women, and it may commence at any age after puberty. It may significantly affect a variety of psychological and social aspects of one's life and the individual's overall quality of life (QoL).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the QoL of AGA patients and discover the factors that can influence the QoL of AGA patients, including previous experience in non-medical hair care, reasons for hospital visits, age, duration, and the severity of AGA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 998 male patients with AGA were interviewed, using the Hair Specific Skindex-29 to evaluate the QoL of AGA patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 on patients with AGA were as follows: symptom scale: 26.3±19.5, function scale: 24.0±20.1, emotion scale: 32.1±21.8, and global score: 27.3±19.1. According to this assessment, QoL was more damaged if the patient had severe alopecia, a longer duration of AGA, younger age, had received previous non-medical hair care, and visited the hospital for AGA treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that AGA could harmfully affect the patients' QoL. These findings indicate that dermatologists should address these QoL issues when treating patients with alopecia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Hyub
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Ji-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Won-Soo
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hoon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Yong-Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kye
authors.forename: Ki-Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Do-Won
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Moon-Bum
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyung-Ok
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Woo-Young
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: Tae-Young
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Chang-Hun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Seung-Sik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Byung-In
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.forename: Gwang-Seong
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Choi