02159nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653001500058653001000073653002000083653002300103653001100126653001100137653003000148653000900178653001600187653002000203653003100223100001300254700001900267700001700286700001400303245006700317300000600384490000600390520144700396022001401843       2005                            d  c2005 Jan 1210aAdolescent10aAdult10aAlopecia Areata10aAttitude to Health10aFemale10aHumans10aInternal-External Control10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aQuality of Life10aSurveys and Questionnaires1 aFirooz A1 aFiroozabadi MR1 aGhazisaidi B1 aDowlati Y00aConcepts of patients with alopecia areata about their disease.  a10 v53 a<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Alopecia areata (AA) is a common and chronic skin disease with an unknown etiology. It may significantly affect the patient quality of life. This study was designed to evaluate the illness perception in patients with AA.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>A questionnaire consisting of 25 questions about causes, timeline, consequences and control of disease were given to 80 patients with AA attending a skin clinic in Tehran, Iran. The impact of age, gender, duration of disease, education, extent of disease and family history of AA were also assessed.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Eighty patients (38 male and 42 female) with a mean age of 27.5 years (SD = 9.3) and disease duration of 7.8 years (SD = 7.7) completed the questionnaire. 76.9% of the patients believed that the role of stress was the cause of disease. 17.1 % believed genetic background to be the main cause, this found to be more frequent in patients with positive family history of AA. More than half of patients believed that their illness had major consequences on their lives and 40% of patients believed that their illness would be likely to be permanent rather than temporary, more in patients with longer duration of disease. Only 57.5% of patients considered their treatments to be effective.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>AA may considerably affect various aspects of patients' lives. The patient knowledge about the causes and course of this disease is limited.</p>  a1471-5945