Characterization of the racial composition of published alopecia quality of life research

Summary: Abstract Body: This study aims to learn about the patient demographics included in alopecia quality of life (QOL) studies, as well as the type of funding involved. We performed a retrospective analysis of 100 published QOL studies on different types of alopecia. For the included studies, the type of alopecia, demographics of study participants, and funding source were all recorded. Studies were significantly less likely to include information on patient race than patient sex (OR=0.2094, p<0.0001, 95%CI=0.1150 to 0.3814). The most common types of alopecia included were alopecia areata (51 studies), androgenic alopecia (33 studies), and alopecia universalis (7 studies). Studies on alopecia areata were significantly less likely to include black patients than any other racial group (OR=0.3321, p=0.018, 95%CI=0.1332 to 0.8280). Twenty-two studies included the patient's race; 18 included Black patients and 20 included white. Studies with black patients included an average of 12.1 patients, significantly lower than studies with white patients, which had an average of 139 (p=0.018). In addition, alopecia QOL studies that included black patients were significantly less likely to receive funding in comparison to patients of other racial groups (OR=0.1765, p=0.0039, 95%CI=0.0543 to 0.5737). This study is significant in highlighting the disparities among different racial groups included in alopecia studies, demonstrating the need for increased funding and research on the impacts of this disease on the quality of life in minority patients. Sydney E. DeVore¹, Selina J. Chang¹, Monet Weldon¹, Emma Kozuch¹, Viktoria Voragen¹, Sydney Barlow¹, Esther Nwozo², Chinazaekpere Nwankpa¹, Tiffany Mayo³ 1. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States. 2. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States. 3. Dermatology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, United States. Clinical Research: Epidemiology and Observational Research