Recently, hair loss population has rapidly increased. For modern people, hair loss has caused pathological and psychological problems. Under such circumstances, this study attempted to examine data which are needed in improving stress and depression t...
Recently, hair loss population has rapidly increased. For modern people, hair loss has caused pathological and psychological problems. Under such circumstances, this study attempted to examine data which are needed in improving stress and depression through comparative analysis on changes in interpersonal stress and depression resulting from hair loss. For this, an online questionnaire survey was performed against 304 middle-aged women in their 40-60s from September 7 to November 6, 2021 (60 days). A total of 300 copies excluding unanswered or poorly answered ones were used for final analysis. The collected data were analyzed, using SPSS 27.0, and the results found the followings:
First, concerning subjects’ general characteristics, in terms of the number of respondents by age, ‘50s’ was the highest with 140 respondents, followed by ‘60s (97 respondents)’ and ‘40s (63 respondents)’. In educational background, ‘high school graduate or below’ was the highest with 153 respondents, followed by ‘2 to 3-year college (94 respondents)’, ‘4-year college (29 respondents)’ and ‘graduate school (24 respondents)’. In occupation, ‘service worker’ was the highest with 64 respondents, followed by ‘others (57 respondents)’, ‘supervisor (48 respondents)’, ‘professional (47 respondents)’, ‘office worker (44 respondents)’ and ‘production worker (40 respondents)’. In terms of the number of respondents by religion, ‘Christian’ was the highest with 104 respondents, followed by ‘atheist (98 respondents)’, ‘Buddhist (56 respondents)’, ‘others (22 respondents)’ and ‘Roman Catholic (20 respondents)’. In average monthly income, ‘KRW 2 million or higher’ was the highest with 153 respondents, followed by ‘less than KRW 2million (147 respondents)’. In a family type, ‘nuclear family (249 respondents)’ was higher than ‘extended family (51 respondents)’. In marital status, ‘married’ was the highest with 225 respondents, followed by ‘others (56 respondents)’ and ‘single (19 respondents)’. In the number of children, ‘two’ was the highest with 131 respondents, followed by ‘just one (87 respondents)’, ‘3 or more (63 respondents)’ and ‘none (19 respondents)’
Second, regarding a hair loss type, ‘dry (33.3%)’, ‘damaged (61.3%)’ and ‘thin (57.0%)’ were the highest in terms of a scalp type, hair condition and hair thickness respectively. When asked about scalp problems, ‘itching’ and ‘hair loss’ were most responded with 27.2% each. When asked who is now suffering from hair loss in their family, ‘grandfather (mother’s die)’ was most responded with 25.3%. In terms of a type of hair loss, ‘vertex hair loss’ was the highest with 49.0%. When asked how long hair loss has lasted, ‘4-5 years (29.3%)’ was most responded.
Third, concerning differences in hair loss conditions, as the respondents were older, hair conditions (scalp, hair, hair loss) were worse. In educational background, hair conditions were good in ‘graduate school’ while they were worst in ‘high school graduate or below’. In terms of occupation, hair loss conditions were good in ‘professional’ while they were bad in ‘office worker’ and ‘production worker’. In terms of hair loss conditions by religion, believers were worse than atheists. In average monthly income, no statistically significant difference was found in overall hair loss conditions, scalp conditions and hair conditions. In terms of hair loss conditions by family type, ‘nuclear family’ was worse than ‘extended family’. When analyzed by a hair loss period, ‘less than 5 years’ was worse than ‘5 years or longer’ in terms of hair loss conditions. In hair conditions, on the contrary, ‘less than 5 years’ was better than ‘5 years or longer’.
Fourth, in stress by age, a statistically significant difference was observed in psychological, social, physical and chemical stresses. Concerning stress by educational background, ‘graduate school’ was the highest while ‘2 to 3-year college’ was the lowest in terms of psychological stress. In social/physical stress, on the other hand, ‘high school graduate or below’ and ‘2 to 3-year college’ were severe while ‘graduate school’ was minor. When analyzed by occupation, ‘production worker’ was higher than ‘professional’ in terms of psychological, social, physical and chemical stresses. However, no statistically significant difference was found in stress by religion, average monthly income or family type. In terms of stress by a hair loss period, ‘5 years or longer’ was greater than ‘less than 5 years’ with statistical significance.
Fifth, regarding differences in depression, depression by age revealed no statistically significant difference in ‘affective depression’, ‘cognitive depression’ and ‘behavioral depression’. When analyzed by educational background, ‘high school graduate or below’ was greater than ‘graduate school’ in terms of affective, cognitive and behavioral depressions. When analyzed by occupation, ‘office/production worker’ was higher than ‘professional’ in terms of affective and cognitive depression. In terms of behavioral depression, on the contrary, ‘production worker’ was greater than ‘office worker’. However, no statistically significant difference was observed in depression by religion or by average monthly income. When analyzed by a family type, ‘nuclear family’ was greater than ‘extended family’ in terms of affective, cognitive and behavioral depressions. Regarding depression by hair loss period, ‘5 years or longer’ was greater than ‘less than 5 years’ in terms of affective, cognitive and behavioral depressions.
Hair loss symptom can get either worse or better depending on how stress is managed, compared to any other diseases. Once hair loss occurs, therefore, there should be efforts to reduce hair loss stress and depression effectively by getting appropriate psychological therapies.