Summary
Background
Alopecia areata (AA) is a common hair loss disorder that results in patchy to complete hair loss. Many uncertainties exist around the most effective treatments for this condition.
Objectives
To identify uncertainties in AA management and treatment that are important to both service users (people with hair loss, carers and relatives) and healthcare professionals.
Methods
An AA priority setting partnership was established between patients, their carers and relatives, and healthcare professionals to identify the most important uncertainties in AA. The methodology of the James Lind Alliance was followed to ensure a balanced, inclusive and transparent process.
Results
In total, 2747 treatment uncertainties were submitted by 912 participants, of which 1012 uncertainties relating to AA (and variants) were analysed. Questions were combined into ‘indicative uncertainties’ following a structured format. A series of ranking exercises further reduced this list to a top 25 that were taken to a final prioritization workshop where the top 10 priorities were agreed.
Conclusions
We present the top 10 research priorities for AA to guide researchers and funding bodies to support studies important to both patients and clinicians.
QuestionHow effective is intralesional injection of triamcinolone acetonide compared with topical treatments in inducing and maintaining hair growth in patients with alopecia areata?
Clinical scenarioA 23-year-old man with an 18-month history of patch-type alopecia areata (AA) of his scalp has failed to respond to topical clobetasol propionate and tacrolimus ointments. He enquired about intralesional steroid injections and wondered if this would be helpful in the treatment of his condition, which is causing a lot of concern and having a considerable psychological impact to the extent of preventing an active social life owing to embarrassment and low self-esteem.
Funding: Alopecia UK are a UK based hair loss charity and provided financial support for this project. Alopecia UK also assisted in the publicity of the project and distribution of surveys, along with other stakeholders.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.