The study of psychological problems in patients with alopecia areata

Alopecia Areata (A.A) is a chronic inflammatory disease that involves hair and nail. Recent studies show a high prevalence of psychological problems in A.A. The purpose of the present study was assessment psychological problems in patients with A.A.Subjects and In this cross-sectional study, 74 (27 female and 47 male) volunteered patients with A.A who were referred to Ahvaz Imam Khomeini hospital dermatologic clinic and private clinic were enrolled. Patients completed symptom checklist-90-R and demographic form. The results showed 55.5% of patients suffered from psychological problems (61.8% of whom were male and 44.5% were female). The patients suffered from the following psychological problems: anxiety (0/86) paranoid (0/85) Depression (0/78) obsessive compulsive (0/78). Significant relationship was observed between psychological problems and marital status (p=0/005). Our findings showed that psychological problems are common in patients with A.A. Male patients report more frequent compliance of psychological problems in comparison to female. The study’s finding suggests that psychological assessment and possibly additional psychological therapy is needed as a routine treatment in A.A