Why carry out this study?

Alopecia areata (AA) can negatively affect quality of life (QoL) but only a small number of studies have investigated the level of agreement between patients and physicians in evaluating AA severity.

Cross-sectional surveys that gain input directly from patients offer the opportunity to evaluate the association between patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and clinician-reported outcomes.

This real-world study using data from a large number of participants in the Adelphi Real World AA Disease Specific Programme™, a retrospective point-in-time cross-sectional survey of European dermatologists and their adult patients with AA, aimed to evaluate how physician-assessed and patient self-rated severity of AA compare and describe the patient-reported burden of AA stratified by physician-assessed severity.

What was learned from the study?

Data from all PRO instruments used (Skindex-16 adapted for AA [Skindex-16 AA], EuroQol-5-dimension 5-level [EQ-5D-5L] questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire) showed an increase in patient-reported burden with increasing physician-rated AA severity; emotions (Skindex-16 AA [mean scores 35.9 for mild, 42.5 for moderate, 56.2 for severe AA]) and anxiety/depression (EQ-5D-5L [44.3% of patients with mild, 49.1% moderate, 66.5% with severe AA reporting any perceived problem]) were the most adversely affected aspects.

These data highlight the significant impact that AA can have beyond hair loss, especially for patients with severe AA; there was 78.5% physician–patient alignment on AA severity assessment.