Prevalence and Factors Influencing Trichotillomania Among Healthcare Workers and Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

 Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's own hair, in which the scalp, brows, and eyelids are the most common sites. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of TTM among healthcare workers and students and to determine its association...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-12, Vol.15 (12), p.e51128-e51128
Main Authors: Alonazi, Sadeem D, AlHnake, Alanoud W, Alahmari, Faisal S, Abahussain, Eman, Alkahtani, Abdullah H, Alharbi, Khalid A, Alasiri, Ahmed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
Anxiety
Colleges & universities
Confidence intervals
Cross-sectional studies
Dentistry
Females
Males
Medical personnel
Medical students
Medicine
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Psychiatry
Psychology
Public Health
Questionnaires
Sociodemographics
Stress
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Summary: Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's own hair, in which the scalp, brows, and eyelids are the most common sites. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of TTM among healthcare workers and students and to determine its association with psychiatric disorders.  This cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare workers and students in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic characteristics, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Hairpulling Scale to measure TTM, and the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure the psychiatric disorders of the participants. A convenience sampling technique was implemented. The sample size was calculated to be 385.  Of the total 460 participants, 62% (n = 285) were students, 55% were females and 61.7% (n = 284) were aged between 18 and 24 years. The most commonly associated chronic disease was diabetes (n = 34, 7.4%), followed by asthma (n = 30, 6.5%). The prevalence of TTM was 4.8% (n = 22), which was higher among medical students (n = 15, 5.3%) as compared to medical workers (n = 7, 4%). While taking psychiatric medication (AOR = 0.197; 95% CI = 0.076-0.508 p = 0.001) was identified as the protective factor for TTM, previous diagnoses of psychiatric illness (AOR = 4.298; 95% CI = 1.759-10.499; p = 0.001), stress (AOR = 4.759; 95% CI = 1.541-14.695; p = 0.007), and depression (AOR = 3.149; 95% CI = 1.190-8.334; p = 0.021) were recognized as independent risk factors of TTM.  Trichotillomania was less common among health workers and students in Saudi Arabia. However, if trichotillomania is present, the disorder was found to be more common among those with associated psychiatric illnesses, including those who were anxious and depressed. Hence, further research is required to validate the impact of psychiatric conditions on the prevalence of TTM in the study region.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.51128