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Oral finasteride improved the quality of life of androgenetic alopecia patients
Author(s) -
YAMAZAKI Masashi,
MIYAKURA Takashi,
UCHIYAMA Masaki,
HOBO Ayako,
IRISAWA Ryokichi,
TSUBOI Ryoji
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2010.01126.x
Subject(s) - finasteride , medicine , dermatology life quality index , quality of life (healthcare) , visual analogue scale , anxiety , state trait anxiety inventory , oral administration , urology , disease , physical therapy , psychiatry , prostate , nursing , cancer
Although androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is not a systemic disease, some patients suffer from anxiety about the progression of their condition. This study was conducted in order to ascertain whether treatment by oral finasteride can improve the quality of life (QOL) of these patients. Twenty‐seven male AGA patients aged 19–76 years (average, 33.8) answered the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), WHO/QOL‐26 and State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaires before and after the administration of finasteride (1 mg/day) for 6 months. Patients assessed by physicians as “excellent” or “good” were defined as “high responders”; those assessed as “moderate” or “no change” were “low responders”. The changes in QOL before and after the treatment were statistically analyzed, and the improved value of each QOL index of the high responders and low responders from baseline were compared. There was a statistical difference in the VAS ( P < 0.0001) and DLQI ( P < 0.01) indices before and after the administration of finasteride. No significant changes occurred in the WHO/QOL‐26 and STAI indices. Comparison of the high responders (11 cases) and low responders (16 cases) revealed no statistical difference in the improvement of VAS and DLQI scores. Oral finasteride improves the QOL of these patients, and VAS and DLQI are useful for the evaluation of patients’ QOL because of the high sensitivity of these tests. However, oral finasteride did not alleviate the patients’ anxiety nor did its efficacy correlate with the level of reported anxiety.