Supplementary Material for: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Patients with Alopecia Areata: A Survey Study in the US

Alopecia areata (AA) is comorbid with mental health disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in AA patients.
Participants completed a survey containing the PTSD Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) in the context of their AA.
Of the 1,449 completed surveys (completion rate 79.6%), most were female (83.8%) and white (76.6%) with an average age of 50.6±15.6 years. Respondents had AA for an average of 17.7±15.8 years, with 91.4% experiencing active hair loss. 33.9% of respondents screened positively for PTSD. Participants with alopecia totalis (AT) has the highest average PCL-5 score of 30.1±19.2, followed by alopecia universalis (AU) with 26.0±19.9, and lastly patchy AA with 24.5±18.3 (p=0.003). Intrusion and avoidance were the predominant symptoms. Total PTSD scores were significantly higher in respondents who were younger, Black, and Hispanic when compared to older, white, and non-Hispanic respondents respectively.
One in three patients with AA in this cohort meet the screening criteria for PTSD. These results further highlight the mental health comorbidities with AA and that these symptoms may persist even after hair regrowth. Limitations include the nonrandomized NAAF population with most participants being white females. Finally, respondent’s baseline mental health was not assessed, therefore a causal relationship between AA and PTSD cannot be deduced.