In 2022 Alopecia UK, in collaboration with colleagues at the Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England, received funding from Pfizer to investigate the socioeconomic burden of alopecia areata.

The research aimed to investigate the financial, psychological, and social impact of living with alopecia areata (AA), exploring factors including the costs of products and services to manage AA, access to healthcare, quality of life, psychological well-being, and the effect of AA on employment opportunities. The main objective of the study was to understand the true costs associated with AA.

829 people from the alopecia community completed the online survey which we think is one of the biggest response rates for such a survey. A huge thank you to everyone who completed the survey. 

The main findings from the study were: 

- The median spend on products and services was £840 a year

- 21% of participants reported being signed off work due to their alopecia areata

- 70% of participants experienced depression

- 65% of participants experienced anxiety

The findings have already been presented at conferences to highlight the impact of alopecia areata to professionals in the hope of improving the experiences in healthcare. 

Researchers Dr Kerry Montgomery and Dr Fabio Zucchelli have written a more comprehensive blog post which goes into more detail about their study. Read their blog here.