Alopecia

Despite decreasing trends observed in the global burden of alopecia areata, low-income countries and ​​Western Sub-Saharan Africa regions continue to ...

The regions with the greatest changes in the incidence of AA were Central Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Sub-Saharan Africa. The 3 countries with the largest increases in AA incidence from 1990 to 2019 were Kuwait (EAPC, 0.15), South Sudan (EAPC, 0.12), and Nigeria (EAPC, 0.11). AA affects 2% of the general population and is a significant driver of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and mental health distress. Contrary to global trends, the largest increases in the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate of AA from 1990 to 2019 were observed in countries in the low-SDI quintile (EAPC, 0.02; 95% CI, −0.01 to 0.06; EAPC, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.04; respectively) and Western Sub-Saharan Africa regions. In assessing global AA data from 1990 to 2019, incidence increased 49.14% from 21,742,836.45 to 32,426,829.18, and the related number of DALYs increased from 401,682.16 to 600,570.37, an increase of 49.51%. Moreover, the global age-standardized incidence rate decreased (EAPC, −0.13; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.12) and the age-standardized DALY rate showed a downward trend (EAPC, −0.12; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.11). Seeking to provide comprehensive and comparable information on the burden of AA, they analyzed the global, regional, and national incidence and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 study in terms of counts and age-standardized rates by sex, age, and sociodemographic index (SDI) value. Decreasing trends in the global burden of alopecia areata (AA) have been observed except in low-income countries and Western Sub-Saharan Africa regions, according to study findings published in Frontiers in Immunology.