Higher body mass index is associated with greater severity of alopecia in men with male-pattern androgenetic alopecia in Taiwan: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for multiple health problems, but its association with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) remains controversial.

Objective: We sought to determine the association between body mass index (BMI) and alopecia severity in men with AGA and early-onset AGA.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The medical charts and photographs of men with a clinical diagnosis of AGA were reviewed.

Results: In all, 189 men were enrolled with a mean age of 30.8 years. In male-pattern AGA (n = 142), men with severe alopecia (grade V-VII) had higher BMI than those with mild to moderate alopecia (grade I-IV) (25.1 vs 22.8 kg/m(2), P = .01). After multivariate adjustments, the risk for severe alopecia was higher in the overweight or obese (BMI ≥24 kg/m(2)) subjects with male-pattern AGA (odds ratio 3.52, P < .01). In early-onset male-pattern AGA (n = 46), the risk for having severe alopecia was also higher in the overweight or obese subjects (odds ratio 4.97, P = .03).

Limitations: Parameters used to evaluate obesity were limited because of the retrospective nature of the study.

Conclusions: Higher BMI was significantly associated with greater severity of hair loss in men with male-pattern AGA, especially in those with early-onset AGA.