Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Burden of Alopecia Areata in Contemporary Pediatric Practice
Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Burden of Alopecia Areata in Contemporary Pediatric Practice

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Burden of Alopecia Areata in Contemporary Pediatric Practice

Pediatr Dermatol. 2025 May 23. doi: 10.1111/pde.15993. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, we evaluated racial and ethnic variation in alopecia areata prevalence among children aged 5-17 years who received routine pediatric care during 2017-2019 in a large integrated healthcare delivery system in Northern California. Among 598,067 children (mean age 11.0 ± 3.7 years; 49.1% female; 34.0% non-Hispanic White, 8.8% Black, 27.4% Hispanic, and 21.9% Asian/Pacific Islander), the age-sex-adjusted prevalence of alopecia areata (per 100,000) was higher for Hispanic (298 [95% confidence interval 272-326]), Asian/Pacific Islander (279 [251-310]), and Black (276 [233-325]) children and lower for non-Hispanic White (119 [104-135]) children; among Asian/Pacific Islander subgroups, prevalence ranged from 454 [330-616] South Asian, 333 [261-419] Filipino, 318 [177-550] Vietnamese, 310 [183-495] Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 178 [119-256] Chinese. Compared to non-Hispanic White children, the age-sex-adjusted prevalence ratios for alopecia areata were two- to three-fold higher for South Asian (3.33 [2.46-4.52]), Filipino (2.80 [2.15-3.64]), Vietnamese (2.73 [1.65-4.52]), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (2.62 [1.62-4.23]), Hispanic (2.49 [2.14-2.91]), and Black (2.32 [1.89-2.85]) children and only somewhat higher for Chinese children (1.49 [1.01-2.19]). This large US population study identified a substantial burden of alopecia areata among Black, Hispanic, and disaggregated US Asian and Pacific Islander children, particularly South Asian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander subgroups.

PMID:40406966 | DOI:10.1111/pde.15993