Demographics and Disease Characteristics of Patients with Alopecia Areata with Comorbid Atopic Dermatitis, Vitiligo or Anxiety/Depression: TARGET-DERM AA

Abstract

Introduction Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic autoimmune disease. Common AA comorbidities include atopic dermatitis (AD), vitiligo, anxiety and depression (AnxDep). TARGET-DERM AA is an ongoing longitudinal, real-world study of United States and Canadian AA patients. The purpose of this analysis is to assess characteristics among AA patients with and without the above comorbidities.

Methods At enrollment (December 2021-June 2024), patients reported outcomes (including comorbidities, Patient Global Impression of Severity-AA, and clinician-reported outcome measures: Severity of Alopecia Tool, Measure for Eyebrow/Eyelash Hair Loss). Characteristics were compared across subgroups.

Results Of the 267 AA patients with completed patient questionnaires at enrollment, 61.4% were female; 24.4% were aged <12 years, 13.7% 12-17, and 61.7% 18 or older. Overall, 21.0% self-reported an AD diagnosis (19.7% of pediatric, 11.1% of adolescent, and 25.4% of adult AA patients), 7.1% vitiligo (7.0% of pediatric, 3.7% of adolescent, and 8.5% of adult AA patients) and 44.9% AnxDep (21.1% of pediatric, 40.7% of adolescent, and 58.5% of adult AA patients).

42.1% of patients with comorbid vitiligo had severe AA disease (SALT>50) and 27.8% patients without comorbid vitiligo had SALT>50. 28.6% of those with comorbid AD had SALT>50 compared to 28.9% of those not reporting AD, with 30.0% of AnxDep and 27.9% of non-AnxDep having SALT>50, all p>0.2.

42.1% of patients with comorbid vitiligo reported PGIS-AA ‘severe/very severe’ disease, with 41.1% of patients with comorbid AD and 42.5% of patients with comorbid AnxDep reporting severe/very severe AA disease, all numerically higher than patients without comorbid vitiligo (36.3%), AD (35.6%), and AnxDep (31.9%), all p>.07. Among those with and without vitiligo, 42.1% vs 37.9% had eyebrow involvement, 36.8% vs 30.2% eyelash; considering AD, 35.7% vs 38.9% had eyebrow involvement, 28.6% vs 31.3% eyelash; for AnxDep 39.2% vs 37.4% had eyebrow involvement, 30.8% v 30.6% eyelash, all p>0.5.

Discussion In this real-world cohort of AA patients, the presence of specific comorbidities was not associated with statistically significant differences in clinician reported AA severity, eyebrow or eyelash involvement. Comorbid AnxDep was associated with increased patient-reported AA disease severity. Additional research characterizing how dermatologic and psychiatric comorbidities impact health-related quality of life and patient burden has the potential to inform management decisions.