Evaluating the Accuracy of Patient-Reported Hair Outcomes versus Trichometric Measurements in PRP Therapy
Author Type(s)
Student
Document Type
Letter to the Editor
Publication Date
12-1-2025
DOI
10.1007/s00403-025-04264-1
Journal Title
Archives of Dermatological Research
Keywords
Hair loss, Patient outcomes, Patient-reported outcomes, Platelet-rich plasma, PRP
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
Monitoring both subjective and objective responses to alopecia treatment is critical for assessing patient perception and therapeutic efficacy. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a widely used treatment for alopecia, particularly androgenetic alopecia (AGA), yet the correlation between patient-reported outcomes and trichometric measurements remains poorly defined. This retrospective study analyzed data from 56 alopecia patients treated with PRP at NYU Langone Health between November 2017 and March 2025. Patients were categorized as “improved,” “stable,” or “worse” based on self-assessments, and changes in hair density and width were evaluated over the course of PRP treatment. Spearman’s rank correlation and Kruskal-Wallis Rank Sum Tests were used for statistical analysis. Results showed that patient-reported outcomes correlated significantly with changes in hair density (p = 0.0006), but not hair width (p = 0.2688). The greatest increase in hair density was observed in the “improved” group (+ 18.9 hairs/cm²), with a more modest gain in the “stable” group (+ 7.6 hairs/cm²), while the “worse” group experienced a decrease (− 19.7 hairs/cm²). Differences in density across all three groups were statistically significant (p = 0.0012), whereas width changes were not (p = 0.5009). Subgroup analysis of AGA patients yielded similar findings. These results suggest that patient perception aligns more closely with density changes than width changes. Combining subjective assessments with objective measurements enhances clinical decision-making, expectation management, and holistic evaluation of PRP treatment efficacy in alopecia patients.
Recommended Citation
Brinks, A., Desai, D., Needle, C., Kearney, C., Nohria, A., Sikora, M., Oh, C., Anyanwu, N., Shapiro, J., & Lo Sicco, K. (2025). Evaluating the Accuracy of Patient-Reported Hair Outcomes versus Trichometric Measurements in PRP Therapy. Archives of Dermatological Research, 317 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-025-04264-1
