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Platelet-Rich Plasma for Treatment of Hair Loss Improves Patient-Reported Quality of Life

  • Original Article
  • Non-Surgical Aesthetic
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Abstract

Background

While numerous studies have demonstrated enhanced hair growth following platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments in patients with male and female pattern hair loss, no study has demonstrated its impact on quality of life (QoL) using a validated tool.

Objective

This prospective study aimed to assess the psychological impact of PRP treatment for hair loss.

Methods

PRP scalp injections were repeated monthly for the first 3 months, then quarterly for 1 year, and annually thereafter. HAIRDEX 48, a validated scale assessing QoL for patients with alopecia, was administered before PRP and at each visit. Scores were interpolated on a 0–100 scale: 0 representing highest QoL, 100 lowest, and compared using paired t-tests.

Results

Ninety-two patients receiving PRP were analyzed. Mean age was 48.2 ± 17.4 years and 55% were male. Patients had an average of 4 ± 2 treatments; most (60%) had ≥4. Thirty patients (33%) completed both pre- and post-PRP questionnaires. Prior to PRP, 61% tried minoxidil, 16% finasteride, and 1% hair transplant.

Total HAIRDEX scores improved from a mean of 23.2 ± 15.4 to 19.7 ± 11.3 after 3–5 months after PRP (p < 0.001). There were also decreases in symptoms (10.0 ± 12.0 vs. 9.6 ± 10.8, p < 0.001), functioning (16.1 ± 18.1 vs. 13.3 ± 12.6, p < 0.001), and emotions domains (37.7 ± 24.1 vs. 32.2 ± 18.9, p < 0001). For stigmatization and self-confidence domains, improvements from pre-PRP were significant at 3–5 months (21.2 ± 16.8 vs. 17.4 ± 12.1; p < 0.001 and 24.8 ± 17.7 vs. 20.9 ± 15.5; p < 0.001, respectively) and >6 months (18.9 ± 13.9; p < 0.001 and19.5 ± 18.6; p = 0.008, respectively).

Conclusions

PRP improves QoL and is an effective part of multimodal therapy for hair loss.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Funding

No funding was received for the conduction of this research or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic Surgery, A60, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Abigail Meyers, Alison Jin, Grzegorz J. Kwiecien, James Gatherwright & James E. Zins

  2. Department of Dermatology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Shilpi Khetarpal

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  1. Abigail Meyers
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  2. Alison Jin
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  3. Grzegorz J. Kwiecien
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  4. James Gatherwright
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  5. Shilpi Khetarpal
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Correspondence to James E. Zins.

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Human and Animal Rights

This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki and internal review board.

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Informed consent was obtained from all included patients for the use of survey data. Only photographs of patients who consented to the use of photographs were included.

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Meyers, A., Jin, A., Kwiecien, G.J. et al. Platelet-Rich Plasma for Treatment of Hair Loss Improves Patient-Reported Quality of Life. Aesth Plast Surg 47, 1528–1534 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-022-03224-8

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