Abstract

Background:
Hair and skin play an important role in the physical appearance. Canities is a scientific term used to describe hair greying. It is considered a physiological phenomenon with getting older, despite any factors like gender and race. In case where it appears at a young age, the term used is premature canities or premature greying of hair. This study aimed to assess the epidemiology of premature greying of hair.
Methodology:
This study analyzed an observational descriptive cross-sectional data collected in September 2018. Our sample included males and females from 18-30 years of age from King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. The sample size was 447 with a confidence level of a 95% and a margin of error of 5%.
Results:
The study sample consisted of 346 (77.4%) females and 101 (22.6%) males. Regarding PMGH 257 (57.5%) people did not complain of PMGH and 190 (42.5%) people suffered from PMGH. Regarding gender, 160 (84.2%) females and 30 (15.8%) males had PMGH. The prevalence of PMGH in the present study was 42.5%.
Conclusion:
This study revealed that PMGH is a common trichological disorder. Most frequent associations to PMGH included thyroid, deficiency of vitamins, alopecia areata, vitiligo, smoking, sun exposure and personal habits like using hair straightener and application of hair gel. Family history of PMGH appears to play an important role in the predisposition of this disorder.

Key words: Premature greying of hair, King Faisal-University, Epidemiological study,