Beyond surgery: a multimodal framework for a pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery program in a safety-net children's hospital.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease characterised by patchy or total hair loss on the scalp, with or without additional loss of facial and/or body hair []. Hair loss due to AA often leads to significant emotional distress and negative impacts on health‐related quality of life [, , ]. AA often presents with atopic, autoimmune, and psychiatric diseases [, , , , ]. In addition, mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety, are more prevalent in patients with AA than in the general population [, , , , ]. Incidence rates of AA range from 0.021% to 0.026%, and the global prevalence rates of AA range from 0.58% to 2% [, , , , , ]. Recent studies have aimed to understand the epidemiology of AA across different regions; however, epidemiological data on AA in Australia are limited. Population‐level estimates of AA also vary substantially by data source, as case ascertainment depends on healthcare‐seeking behaviour and diagnostic recording. Estimates derived from routinely collected healthcare data (e.g., claims or electronic health records [EHRs]) capture only individuals who present for care and receive a recorded diagnosis, and may therefore under‐ascertain milder, intermittent, or self‐managed disease. Consistent with this limitation, an analysis of Australian primary‐care EHRs reported an AA incidence rate of 0.028% and an AA point prevalence rate of 0.13% between 2011 and 2020 []. This uncertainty in ascertainment highlights the need for contemporary, population‐based prevalence estimates of AA in Australia using a transparent, prespecified case‐identification approach. This study aimed to estimate the lifetime and point prevalence of AA in Australia among individuals aged ≥ 15 years, including the lifetime prevalence of healthcare provider (HCP)‐diagnosed AA and self‐diagnosed AA.