Clinico-epidemiological study of alopecia areata
Keywords:
Alopecia areata, clinical features, epidemiologyAbstract
Objective To evaluate the clinical and demographical pattern of alopecia areata (AA) and their association with other diseases. Methods A cross-sectional multicentric study of 410 patients with AA was carried out during the period of January 2013 to December 2014. A detail clinical and demographical pattern of the disease was taken in a prescribed proforma along with the association of other diseases, if present. Results A total of 410 patients with AA were included in the study with age ranging from 1 year to 74 years, out of which 206 were males and 204 females. The commonest age at onset was 21-30 years. Multilocular patches were the commonest presentation. Based on the pattern, patchy AA was most commonly seen, followed by ophiasis and sisiapho. Eyebrow involvement was common in the ophiasis group as compared to other types. Nail involvement was found in 45.4% patients and pitting was the most common finding. A history of previous episode of AA was present in 32.4% of patient. Severity of AA with increasing area of involvement was seen in the relapse group of patients. Scalp was the commonest hair bearing area of involvement (76.8%), as well as, was also the first site of involvement. In 12.7%, there was a past history of AA. The commonest associated disease was atopic dermatitis (5.8%). Other diseases like thyroid, vitiligo, diabetes, collagen-vascular disease etc. were also noted in our study. Conclusion AA is a disease of the younger age group. We assessed the demographic profile of the patients and try to correlate it with other studies and hypothesis.References
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