Depression among adult individuals with androgenic alopecia: A cross-sectional study from the PERSIAN Guilan Cohort Study

Background Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common form of hair loss worldwide and has been linked to adverse psychological outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the status of AGA and depression in the Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies of the Iranian Adults (PERSIAN) Guilan Cohort Study (PGCS) population. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from 10,520 participants aged 35–70 years enrolled. AGA was diagnosed through dermatologist examination and classified using the Hamilton–Norwood scale in men and the Sinclair scale in women. Depression was defined as a documented diagnosis by a psychiatrist or psychologist and/or current antidepressant treatment. Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between AGA and depression. Adjusted models controlled for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, body mass index, physical activity, substance use, and comorbidities. Results The prevalence of AGA and depression was 52.7% and 5.2%, respectively. AGA was significantly more common in men than women (65.8% vs. 41.2%, P < 0.001) and increased with age (P for trend < 0.001). Depression was more prevalent among women than men (7.3% vs. 2.8%, P < 0.001). No significant difference in depression prevalence was observed between participants with and without AGA (4.9% vs. 5.6%, P = 0.112). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, AGA was not associated with depression in the overall population (adjusted OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.82–1.18, P = 0.841). Similar null associations were observed in sex-stratified analyses among men and women. Conclusions Our findings illustrated that, although AGA was highly prevalent among adults and strongly associated with age and sex, it was not independently associated with depression in these population.