Why carry out this study?

Alopecia areata (AA) can be treated with systemic corticosteroids and immunomodulators (such as Janus kinase inhibitors), and these medications may be associated with a risk of some adverse events, such as infections, cardiovascular disease, malignancies, and thromboembolisms.

Studies of the baseline incidence rates of infections, cardiovascular events, malignancies, and thromboembolic events in US patients with AA, including subtypes alopecia totalis or alopecia universalis (AT/AU), have been inconsistent or lacking.

This real-world, US claims-based study aimed to estimate the incidence of baseline comorbidities and outcome events in patients with AA compared with matched patients without AA.

What was learned from the study?

Patients with AA had a greater incidence of herpes simplex infection than those in the matched non-AA cohort, while other outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and thromboembolism, had overall similar rates between cohorts; patients with the AT/AU subtypes generally had higher rates of outcome events than those without the AT/AU subtypes.

These data may provide greater understanding of the comorbid disease burden in patients with AA.