Alopecia areata, anxiety, and depression: Are they related? A systematic review

Background Alopecia areata, more commonly abbreviated as AA, is a type of hair loss that is brought on by an autoimmune condition that has an uncertain prognosis. Alopecia areata, a condition that has been hypothesized to play a role in the onset of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, has been investigated extensively in the past, but these inquiries have produced contradictory results.
Methods Guidelines from PRISMA 2020 acted as the foundation for this study's methodology. We comprehensively searched the Pubmed Embase and SagePub databases from the time of their inception to January 15th, 2023. The individuals' ages and the year of publication were both unrestricted in this study.
Results There were 6398 patients with AA from eight studies that met the inclusion criteria. There were two case-control studies and six cross-sectional studies. The current investigation showed that patients with AA have a high prevalence of psychiatric illnesses, especially anxiety, and depression.
Conclusion This study demonstrates that alopecia areata patients had higher levels of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression than healthy controls.