Quality of Life and Economic Burden Assessment in Korean Patients with Male and Female Pattern Hair Loss

Kim, Dong Young; Kwon, Ohsang

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The total number of patients with pattern hair loss (PHL) has increased in recent years, resulting in an increase of medical expenses. Hair loss may significantly affect psychosocial aspects of the patients' quality of life (QoL). Nevertheless, there are few epidemiological studies on medical/non-medical expenses and their relationship with QoL for PHL patients in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate medical/non-medical expenditure in male and female PHL patients and to determine the relationship between expenditure, QoL, and the clinical severity of hair loss among Korean patients.
METHODS
A total of 204 patients (114 men and 90 women) were interviewed using a validated questionnaire to assess the overall and detailed patterns of their consumption. The Hair Specific Skindex-29 was used to evaluate the QoL of PHL patients. The severity of hair loss was evaluated using the 'Hamilton-Norwood classification' for men and the 'Ludwig classification' for women.
RESULTS
The average monthly expenditure, expenses as a percentage of income, subjective economic burden, and QoL significantly correlated (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in actual expenditure, subjective economic burden, or QoL among the groups classified by the clinical severity of hair loss.
CONCLUSION
The patient's socio-psychological stress for hair loss, not the clinical severity, could motivate the patient to pay more for treatment. In other words, there are individual differences in subjective severity of hair loss and the degree of acceptance; these are associated with actual expenditure and QoL.