title: Quality of life in alopecia areata: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although alopecia areata (AA) is typically seen by medical staff as a benign, not life-threatening cosmetic disease, some studies have found significant impairment in quality of life (QL) in AA patients. There are no studies that assess QL in Brazilian AA patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate QL in AA patients, using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). The most affected SF-36 dimensions were compared to two culturally different AA QL studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a case-control study with 37 AA patients and 49 age- and sex-matched volunteer blood donors. The results of a Turkish and a French study were compared to our results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The dimensions social functioning (P = 0,001), role emotional (P = 0,019), and mental health (P = 0,000) scored statistically lower in the AA group in relation to controls, suggesting a worse QL. Incomparison to the Turkish and French studies, we found: (1) On the dimension role emotional, QL was equally impaired; (2) on the dimension social functioning, it was not different than the Turkish study; (3) social life of French AA patients was more affected; and (4) vitality and mental health dimensions were significantly more affected in French and Turkish patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Impairment in QL in AA patients affected psychological, emotional, and social aspects of theirlives. Despite the scores of SF-36 dimensions varied significantly among different cultural groups, impairment of QL was found in all three studies; thus, we can suppose that these findings are not linked to a specific culture.
authors.affiliation: Sector of Dermatology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Taciana Rocha
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: de Hollanda
authors.affiliation: Sector of Dermatology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Celso Tavares
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Sodré
authors.affiliation: Sector of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brasil
authors.affiliation: Sector of Dermatology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramos-E-Silva
keywords: Alopecia areata; case-control studies; quality of life
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