---
title: >-
  Generic vs. disease-specific patient reported outcome (PRO) instruments for
  assessing HRQoL burden among patients diagnosed with alopecia areata: Evidence
  from TARGET-DERM AA.
description: >-
  Explore this publication on real-world evidence: Generic vs. disease-specific
  patient reported outcome (PRO) instruments for assessing HRQoL burden among…
date: '2025-01-01'
category: Publications
tags:
  - Poster Presentation
  - R&D
  - Care
  - Dermatology
  - Alopecia Areata (AA)
  - Pharma Partner
  - Health System Partner
canonical_url: >-
  https://www.pedestalhealth.com/resources/publications/poster-presentation/generic-vs-disease-specific-patient-reported-outcome-pro/
source: Pedestal Health
license: © 2026 Pedestal Health. All rights reserved.
slug: generic-vs-disease-specific-patient-reported-outcome-pro
id: 3UG6NDjJvagJpP6GEC3OXC
contentType: article
---

## Challenge

Generic QoL instruments (SF-36, DLQI) may not capture the full psychosocial burden of AA—particularly hair loss-specific distress—yet their comparative performance against disease-specific instruments (AAPPO) in a real-world AA cohort had not been evaluated, creating uncertainty about which PRO instruments to use in AA trials.

## Solution

The TARGET-DERM AA registry was used to compare SF-36, DLQI, and AAPPO scores across SALT severity categories, assessing whether each instrument discriminated between mild, moderate, and severe AA using cross-sectional regression and group comparison methods.

## Impact

Demonstrating that the SF-36 fails to discriminate AA severity across SALT categories while AAPPO shows meaningful differences supports the selection of disease-specific PRO instruments for AA regulatory submissions and validates AAPPO as the preferred patient-reported endpoint in AA drug development.

### [Breda Munoz](/people/breda-munoz/)

![Breda Munoz, PhD — Profile Photo](https://images.ctfassets.net/h4s3ip99qawo/3H1T2mfvSNFj6w9tulnreq/a74ae05fe53e400f176d4e9c617b8fb8/breda-munoz.jpg)

### [Julie M. Crawford](/people/julie-crawford/)