Patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata (AA) have high unmet needs and face significant disease burdens, according to patient-reported outcomes data from TARGET-DERM AA registry presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 2024 in San Diego.
In this large, diverse real-world cohort of AA patients, worsening clinician-reported outcomes and patient-reported outcomes of severity and quality of life were associated with increasing severity of alopecia tool (SALT) scores.
Patients with AA have a high unmet medical need due to comorbid conditions and high impact on quality of life. The most common comorbid conditions associated with AA include vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, psoriasis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Mental health comorbidities including anxiety and depression are also common due to the psychological impact of hair loss and the social stigma associated with the condition.
Researchers analyzed data from participant enrollment visits between December 2021 and July 2023 which included medical record data and baseline prospective clinician-reported and patient-reported outcomes.
A significant difference in quality of life was observed with the distribution of scores in each SALT category (mild, moderate, severe). Similarly, significant differences were found in the distribution of eyebrow and alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis scores across SALT categories. Increasing scores of PGIS-AA scale (scale of symptom severity) and eyelash outcomes were associated with increasing SALT severity, the study showed.
“We have critical mass and a rich data source in AA. This is allowing us to take a deep dive into diagnosis and treatment patterns that influence health outcomes across large populations,” says Maria Hordinsky, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN, in a news release. Dr. Hordinsky is a member of the TARGET-DERM AA Steering Committee.
“What’s important about our data presented at AAD and TARGET-DERM AA is that we are gaining insights on the impact of the disease. There are meaningful ways that this data can help inform improved assessment and treatment by healthcare professionals, ultimately changing the trajectory of disease progression and quality of life for patients,” says Michael W. Fried, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Target RWE.
TARGET-DERM is an ongoing longitudinal, observational registry that characterizes the natural history of patients with immune-mediated inflammatory skin conditions in the real world through a consortium of academic and community sites in the U.S. and Canada. To date, Target RWE has enrolled more than 6,000+ patients in the registry with atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, hidradenitis suppurativa, and chronic spontaneous urticaria.
“There are many features of immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease that are outside of the historically measured severity scores observed by clinicians. For example, alongside visible skin lesions in atopic dermatitis, other factors such as the patient’s experience of itch, difficulty sleeping, and other quality-of-life measures are very important parts of the disease,” adds Benjamin Ungar, MD, Director of the Alopecia Center of Excellence, Rosacea & Seborrheic Dermatitis Clinic, Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Dr. Ungar is also a member of the TARGET-DERM AA Steering Committee and receives compensation as an advisor.
