Abstract
Hair disorders are often found in patients post-COVID-19 infection, with telogen effluvium (TE) as its most common type. Hair disorders have a major socio-psychological impact on society. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency may trigger hair loss in post-COVID-19 patients. This study aims to describe the profiles and characteristics of post-COVID-19 patients with hair loss and to assess its association with vitamin D-25-OH levels and quality of life. Our study is an observational cross-sectional study that include 40 subjects aged 19–59 years with hair loss post-COVID-19 infection and have stopped taking anti-androgen or minoxidil for at least one month (from July to August 2022). The Sinclair Hair Shedding Scale was used to measure hair loss severity on hair-washing and non-hair-washing days. Trichoscopic features was also used to portray the clinical picture of hair loss. The serum level of Vitamin D-25-OH was used to determine vitamin D levels. Vitamin D The subjects’ quality of life was assessed using Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. The results show that all subjects observed in this study were clinically diagnosed with TE and 90% being female. Onset and duration of hair loss, hair loss severity, degree of reduced quality of life, and vitamin D levels varied among subjects. There was no association between post-COVID-19 hair loss with vitamin D levels and quality of life. This study indicated an association between the presence of canities and hair loss severity. Further studies are required to confirm the theory.