Study on hair loss and care practices among students of the Universidad de Manizales, Manizales (Colombia), 2016

Estudio sobre la pérdida de cabello y las prácticas de cuidado entre los estudiantes de la Universidad de Manizales, Manizales (Colombia), 2016

Objective: the university environment added to the demands of mental, physical and other types, would represent a risk factor for the development of hair pathologies, involving hair loss, within the population of university students. The objective of the present investigation is to identify the frequency of the phenomenon of hair loss in regular students of the University of Manizales, Manizales (Colombia), 2016. Methods: analytical cross-sectional population study, in a sample of 330 students of the Universidad de Manizales. An instrument that measured demographic variables, capillary care variables and the androgenic alopecia scales Hamilton-Norwood and Ludwig was applied. Results: average age 21.8 years. According to the scales used, 55.7% of students show hair loss. Autoimmune disease was found in 7.6% of the sample, the most common being autoimmune hypothyroidism in 44%. The history of alopecia was found in 42.7% of the participants. The level of stress found was moderate by 76.7% according to the Cisco exam stress test. There was a significant relationship (p = 0.000) between the phenomenon of hair loss detected and the academic program taken by the student, with the most affected being accountancy with 85%, law with 75% law, and medicine 72%. Psychology reported the lowest with 27.5%. 84% of students with autoimmune disease have hair loss, the percentage of hair loss in those who reported moderate levels of stress was 59.4%. Conclusions: in the population of the present study there is a high proportion of hair loss, which makes an intervention urgent.