Alopecia Areata in Children: Quality of Life for Children and Their Parents

S. Essaddouki^1, , FZ. El fatoiki¹, F. Hali¹ and S. Chiheb¹

¹Department of Dermatology and Venereology University Hospital CHU Ibn rochd Casablanca

Cite this paper

S. Essaddouki, FZ. El fatoiki, F. Hali and S. Chiheb. Alopecia Areata in Children: Quality of Life for Children and Their Parents. American Journal of Clinical Medicine Research. 2023; 11(1):22-24. doi: 10.12691/AJCMR-11-1-4

Abstract

Alopecia areata with its different clinical forms creates an important psychosocial burden and strongly influence the quality of life of patients and their parents, but data reported in the literature on the quality of life of parents are scarce. Objectives: The aim of our study was to describe and evaluate the quality of life of pediatric patients with alopecia areata and their parents. Secondary objectives were to investigate the relationship between quality of life and disease severity, disease duration and patient age. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study including peladic cases in patients under 14 years of age and their parents, using the Childhood Chronic Disease Quality of Life Score (CCDQ), Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) and Children's Dermatologic Life Quality Index (CDLQI). SALT scores at the time of the study were recorded. Results: A statistically significant positive association was found between the SALT scores and the FDLQI scores. Duration of disease showed a significant negative correlation with the emotional domain scores of the QLCCDQ, but no significant correlation with the mean scores per QLCCDQ or the overall FDLQI scores. Child age was negatively correlated with the per-item QLCCDQ and emotional domain scores but the relationship between age and FDLQI score was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the negative impact of alopecia areata on the quality of life of the parents of affected children especially in the emotional domain. The impairment of the patients' quality of life was mainly influenced by the severity of the disease and the age of the affected child, but not by the duration of the disease.

Keywords

alopecia areata, quality of life, children, parents

Copyright

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