Trends of Demographic and Clinical Features of Alopecia Areata in Benghazi-Libya

Alopecica areata (AA) is thought to be a T-cell mediated autoimmune disease directed against an unknown hair follicle autoantigen. The aim of this study was to determine demographic and clinical features of alopecia areata in Benghazi-Libya.

Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional observational study of one hundred seventy-one patients with clinically diagnosed alopecia areata who attended the hair clinic and dermatology outpatient department at Jomhoria hospital, Benghazi-Libya over a period of 2 years, all patients were subjected to a detailed disease history and a complete dermatological examination by dermatologists. To confirm the clinical diagnosis, determine the sites and clinical type, and ascertain the severity of the disease. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (version 18.0), and descriptive statistics were calculated using a chi-square test.

Results: In a study of 171 patients of AA, 63.2% were females, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.7. The patients' mean age was 25.5 years, and the mean age at onset was 22.6 years. The majority of patients were aged ≤30 years (66.4%) and showed limited AA.

A positive family history of AA was elicited in 20.5%. The duration of the disease < 1 year was recorded in 52.6% of patients.

The commonest clinical type was patchy AA with a single patch (52%). Limited (mild) AA (less than 50% involvement) was seen more in males (39.4%) and the severe type was seen more in females (73%). Precipitating factors were reported in 50.3% of patients, and stress constituted 49.1% A personal history of atopy was recorded in 24.6% and vitiligo was seen in 4.1% of patients. Out of total patients, 42.1% had nail changes, 38% of 137 mild AA had nail changes, and 58.8% of severe AA had nail involvement, indicating a significant correlation between nail changes and severity (P=0.027).

Conclusion: Alopecia areata is considered an important health problem in our community. Stress is a common precipitating factor, and family history and nail changes are significantly reported.