Quality of Life and Economic Burden Assessment in Korean Patients with Male and Female Pattern Hair Loss.
- Author:
Dong Young KIM
1
;
Ohsang KWON
Author Information
1. Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. oskwon@snu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Economic burden;
Pattern hair loss;
Quality of life
- MeSH:
Epidemiologic Studies;
Female*;
Hair*;
Health Expenditures;
Humans;
Individuality;
Korea;
Male*;
Quality of Life*
- From:Korean Journal of Dermatology
2015;53(9):700-707
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
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.
