Mind The Gap! Navigating Barriers To Care Access For Patients With Alopecia Areata In The UK: A Qualitative Interview Study

The study highlights significant barriers to accessing care for patients with alopecia areata (AA) in the UK, including poorly defined care pathways, long waiting times, and limited access to specialist hair clinics. Interviews with 10 stakeholders, including healthcare professionals and patients, revealed a need for greater education on AA treatment, particularly for general practitioners, and identified administrative burdens and insufficient staffing as challenges to accessing new therapies. The findings emphasize the necessity of optimizing AA care pathways to improve patient outcomes, with ongoing efforts to develop a consensus on AA management through a Delphi questionnaire involving 100 healthcare professionals. Pfizer sponsored the study.