Photo Credit: Liudmila Chernetska

Patients with alopecia areata (AA) have a higher prevalence of autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities at time of diagnosis as well as a higher risk for new onset autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities after diagnosis, according to a study published in JAMA Dermatology. Arash Mostaghimi, MD, MPH, FAAD, and colleagues examined risks for developing new onset psychiatric or autoimmune diseases after AA diagnosis. The analysis included data from 16,512 patients with AA and 66,048 without AA (age range, 12-64 years). Overall, patients with AA had a higher prevalence of psychiatric (30.9% versus 26.8%) and autoimmune (16.1% versus 8.9%) comorbidities at AA diagnosis. The incidence was also higher in patients with AA without a history of these comorbidities compared with matched controls. Patients with AA had a significantly higher risk for developing a psychiatric (aHR, 1.3) or autoimmune (aHR, 2.7) comorbidity compared with controls. The authors concluded their data may help inform counseling and monitoring for this patient population.