The impact of female pattern hair loss on quality of life
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of female pattern hair loss on quality of life
IRAS ID
198570
Contact name
Zuhayr Sheikh
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
This project aims to find out what impact female pattern hair loss (FPHL) has on women’s quality of life (QoL). FPHL is the most common cause of hair loss in women whereby the hair progressively thins. Although it is more common in women over 65 years old, it can affect women in their 20s. Hair can be of high importance to people’s self-esteem, confidence and social functioning and therefore FPHL can be highly detrimental to someone’s quality of life by affecting these areas. Having a good understanding on how it affects quality of life will help clinicians better treat the social and psychological aspects of the disease as well as just the physical changes. The study will also look for any association with FPHL and other medical illness or potential psychiatric illness. If certain diseases are associated with FPHL, clinicians can screen for these and diagnose patients early.
The target population for this study are adult women who have been diagnosed with FPHL. This is a data collection project whereby participants are asked to fill in questionnaires. This consists of four questionnaires. The first asks about age, how long they have had FPHL for and if they have any other medical conditions. The second is called the Brief-Patient Health Questionnaire and screens for any psychiatric illness. The final two questionnaires are the Women’s AGA Quality of Life Questionnaire and Dermatology Life Quality Index. These ask questions about the patient’s quality of life.
The study will be conducted at a dermatology outpatients department at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton. Patients will be asked if they wish to take part and answer questionnaires by the clinician that they are seeing. The questionnaires are anonymous and will take twelve to fifteen minutes to complete them all.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0301
Date of REC Opinion
12 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion