Objective

2

To study the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in male patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA).

Methods

2

The clinical data of 1

000 male patients with AGA admitted to the Hair Medicine Center of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2020 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected. A self-designed TCM symptom questionnaire was used to collect clinical information of the four examinations. Descriptive frequency analysis

factor-cluster analysis

and Chi-square test were performed using Excel and SPSS 26.0 software. The clinical data were combined to summarize the main TCM syndromes and symptoms.

Results

2

The top five symptoms ranked by frequency were scalp oil (94.6%)

scalp scurf(73.0%)

scalp pruritus(71.2%)

depression(67.5%)

and fatigue (66.3%). Four TCM syndromes were derived using factor-cluster analysis: syndrome of internal retention of dampness-heat (34.6%)

syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency(28.7%)

syndrome of blood heat and wind-dryness(22.2%)

and syndrome of liver-kidney deficiency (14.5%). Men aged 20 to

<

30 years were mainly syndrome of internal retention of dampness-heat

those aged 30 to

<

40 years were mainly syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency

and those aged 40 to

<

50 years were mainly syndrome of internal retention of dampness-heat. There was a significant difference in the distribution of TCM syndromes in patients aged 30 to

<

40 years (

P

<

0.05).

Conclusion

2

Male AGA syndromes are mainly syndrome of internal retention of dampness-heat and syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency

and the distribution of syndromes differs across age groups. It is feasible to evaluate TCM syndromes with factor-cluster analysis combined with experts’ experiences for the clinical syndrome differentiation and treatment of male AGA.