A Study of the Clinical Patterns of Hair Loss in Female Patients

April 2024 in “ Clinical dermatology review (Print) ”

Sweta R. Prabhu, Madhavi Madhusudhana, Soumya Bhute, K Naveen, S. B. Athanikar

diffuse hair loss decreased hair volume telogen effluvium alopecia areata female pattern hair loss trichotillomania COVID-19 infection TE AA FPHL

TLDR Most women aged 20-40 in the study lost hair diffusely and in volume over 6 weeks to 6 months, mainly due to telogen effluvium, often without a clear cause.

The study examined 120 female patients experiencing hair loss, with the most common complaint being diffuse hair loss (55.8%) and decreased hair volume (40.8%). The most frequent diagnosis was telogen effluvium (TE) at 69.2%, followed by alopecia areata (AA) at 15%, female pattern hair loss (FPHL) at 10%, and trichotillomania at 3.3%. The majority of patients (60%) reported hair loss within the past 6 weeks to 6 months, with no specific cause identified in most cases. However, 25.8% of cases were associated with a COVID-19 infection. The study concluded that TE was the most common type of alopecia in females aged 20-40 years, and most patients experienced diffuse and reduced volume of hair loss over a period of 6 weeks to 6 months, typically without any concurrent illness.

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