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.