Global burden of alopecia areata from 1990 to 2019 and emerging treatment trends analyzed through GBD 2019 and bibliometric data

The global prevalence of alopecia areata (AA) is estimated to be around 2%. However, the global disease burden of AA and current research hotspots in this field have received limited attention. The disability adjusted life years (DALYs), incidence rates, and prevalence rates of AA from 1990 to 2019 were collected from the Global burden of disease (GBD) 2019 database and analyzed using R software to elucidate the temporal trend in disease burden associated with AA. VOSviewer software was employed to cluster keywords within the field of AA for identification of research hotspots. On a global scale, areas with low socio-demographic index (SDI) exhibited the highest increase in DALYs, incidence rates, and prevalence rates for AA from 1990 to 2019, while regions with high SDI observed the most substantial decrease. However, it is noteworthy that high SDI regions continued to bear the highest burden of AA. AA imposes a higher disease burden on women than men within the same age bracket. Young individuals (aged between 25 and 39 years) experience a greater disease burden compared to other age cohorts. Bibliometric analysis reveals that recent research focus in the field of AA primarily revolves around clinical trials and evaluating various treatment modalities such as Janus kinases (JAK) inhibitors and platelet rich plasma. The disease burden of AA may still be on the rise worldwide. This study further validates the gender- and region-specific impacts of AA and its associated burden, offering valuable guidance for prevention strategies and resource allocation. JAK inhibitors and platelet rich plasma are currently favored by researchers, and further high-quality studies are required to assess their long-term efficacy and safety more comprehensively.