Thanks to the March 2022 Academy Awards (and an incident involving actress Jada Pinkett Smith and her challenge with alopecia), this dermatological condition has been in the news a lot lately, shedding light on a condition that leads to hair loss. Alopecia areata, the proper name of the condition, can also affect children, and a better understanding of the condition’s prevalence and incidence can help better understand the disease and identify who may be at high risk. A multicenter study offers some answers
Researchers looked at a multicenter cohort of 5 pediatric hospitals. Data were collected for January 2009 to November 2020 via a standardized health record, PEDSnet. The cohort included patients less than 18 years of age with a history of at least 2 doctor visits or 1 specialist dermatologist visit, who had a diagnosis code for alopecia areata.
There were 5801 patients included in the cohort. The mean age in the group was 9.0 years. It skewed slightly more female (56.2%) and the race/ethnicity breakdown was: 2,362 (40.7%) were white; 1,348 (23.2%) were Hispanic; 1094 (18.9%) were black; and 359 (6.2) were Asian. The researchers found that the overall prevalence of alopecia areata in children was 0.11%. Compared to the entire PEDSnet population, the children in the alopecia-alopecia cohort were more likely to be female, older, and members of a race/ethnic minority group. The overall incidence between 2009 and 2020 was 3.6 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI, 13.1-14.2). Incidence by age was normally distributed, peaking at 6 years of age. Girls had a rate that was 22.8% higher than boys (15.1 cases per 100,000 person-years for women versus 12.3 cases per 100,000 person-years for men). Hispanic children had the highest incidence rates (31.5 cases per 100,000 person-years).
The researchers concluded that the highest-risk demographic subgroups were Hispanic and Asian children, who were 2 and 3 times more likely, respectively, to be diagnosed with alopecia areata. The prevalence of 0.11% doubled over time point out.
Reference
1. McKenzie P, Maltenfort M, Bruckner A, et al. Evaluation of the prevalence and incidence of alopecia areata in children using electronic health record data. JAMA-dermatol. Apr 6, 2022. Epub before press. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2022.0351
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