Sensitive scalp: An epidemiologic study in patients with hair loss

Sensitive scalp is a common condition defined by the presence of erythema and/or subjective symptoms as pain, pricking, burning, pruritus of the scalp elicited by triggering factors. Trichodynia is a term that describes a sensation of pain or burning of the scalp and was assumed to be part of sen-sitive scalp. Main goal of the study was to establish the prevalence of sensitive scalp in patients with trichological disorders. We conducted a retrospective observational study recorded: age, sex, trichological dis-order (telogen effluvium, androgenetic alopecia, alopecia areata, scarring alopecia, trichotillomania) and scalp symptoms (pru-ritus, pain, burning and itching sensation). We studied 317 patients. 102 patients (32%) complained of sensitive scalp. Telogen effluvium patients had a significantly high-er prevalence of sensitive scalp (p < 0.001), pain (p= 0.028), burning sensation (p=0.018), pruritus (p=0.016) and trichody-nia (p < 0.001) than other patients with alopecias. Likewise, AA patients had a sta-tistically significant higher prevalence of pruritus (p=0.0256) and trichodynia (p=0.0223) than other alopecias patients. Sensitive scalp is a frequent symptom reported by patients with hair loss. Telogen effluvium and alopecia areata seem to be most associated to sensitive scalp.