A Pilot Study: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Alopecia Areata
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Pilot Study: Randomised Control Trial of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Patients with Alopecia Areata
IRAS ID
231865
Contact name
Sharon Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
City University London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of psychological treatment for Alopecia Areata (AA). AA is an auto-immune skin disorder that significantly impacts an individual's psychological and physical well-being and is strongly associated with a range of psychiatric disorders and high suicidal risk (Hunt & McHale, 2005; Layegh et al., 2010). Treatment interventions implemented for AA to date have been mainly pharmacological and have had limited and short term efficacy on the physical manifestations of the disorder (Delamere, et al., 2008). However, psychological interventions have not been trialled for people with AA, although they have been found to be successful for improving other skin disorders. In particular, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been found to be particularly effective among skin disorders such as vitiligo and psoriasis that have similar qualities to AA (Lavda, Webb & Thompson, 2012). The study will assess the impact of individual CBT for patients with AA.
The proposed study design will be a randomised controlled trial involving patients who are treated at the Royal Free Hospital within the Psychodermatology Department. Patients within this trial will be randomly allocated to an individual CBT treatment group or a control treatment group. The length of treatment will be 12 sessions delivered by psychologists and trainee psychologists within the service. Participants will be assessed using psychological and physical assessments before the intervention is introduced, at the end of the treatment and in a 3 month follow-up assessment. The psychological assessments will include questionnaires assessing comorbid disorders and coping strategies. The physical assessments will include scalp assessment and blood tests and these will be conducted by the medical professionals within the service.
References
Delamere, F. M., Sladden, M. J., Dobbins, H. M., & Leonardi‐Bee, J. (2008). Interventions for alopecia areata. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2008 (2), 1-51. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004413.pub2
Hunt, N., & McHale, S. (2005). The psychological impact of alopecia. British Medical Journal, 331(7522), 951-953.
Lavda, A. C., Webb, T. L., & Thompson, A. R. (2012). A meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for adults with skin conditions. British Journal of Dermatology, 167(5), 970-979.
Layegh, P., Arshadi, H. R., Shahriari, S., Pezeshkpour, F., & Nahidi, Y. (2010). A comparative study on the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation in dermatology patients suffering from psoriasis, acne, alopecia areata and vitiligo. Iranian Journal of Dermatology, 13(4), 106-111.
REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0366
Date of REC Opinion
21 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion