The Impact of the Perception of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia on Psychosocial Life

AIM: This study was planned to evaluate the perception of alopecia as a side effect of chemotherapy, and its effect on the psychosocial life of patients. METHODS: : This cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out at Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, with inpatients in the Radiation Oncology Clinic and outpatients in the Chemotherapy Unit between January 12, 2013 and January 12, 2014. The data for the study were collected by face-to-face interviews using the Patient Identification Form, Disease and Alopecia-Related Features Form, and the Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia Quality of Life Scale, of 213 of the patients who faced chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Descriptive statistics for the statistical evaluation of the data and non-parametric tests such as the Mann–Whitney U-test and the Kruskal–Wallis test for independent group comparisons were used. RESULTS: The study group consisted mostly of elementary school graduates (71.8%), married (74.2%) and female (73.7%) patients residing in Istanbul. A large number of patients stated that they did not have any complaints when their hair began to fall, while a few patients stated that they felt itching. The Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia Quality of Life Scale average scores (23.9 ± 5.4) were found to be low and quality of life of the patients was negatively affected by their alopecia. Also, the impact of alopecia diminished with increasing level of the patient‘s education. It was found that the alopecia-related quality of life scores were lower for the patients who were already wearing a headscarf before illness, compared to the patients who started to wear a headscarf after illness. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, chemotherapy-induced alopecia is an important problem affecting the psychosocial life of patients.