BACKGROUND: The Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) gauges importance and satisfaction ratings in areas of life such as work, health, and family. An examination of QOLI scores among individuals with trichotillomania (TTM), a hair-pulling disorder, might provide insight on domain-specific interventions to counteract factors that may be contributing to lower quality-of-life (QOL) scores.

METHODS: Three hundred thirty-three adults with TTM and 90 healthy controls (age 18 to 65) completed the QOLI and various symptom severity measures. We compared participants with TTM with controls on their overall QOLI scores as well as on QOL subdomains using independent sample t tests with a Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS: Participants with TTM had significantly lower overall QOL compared with controls (t [421] = 7.858, P < .001). Additionally, participants with TTM reported significantly lower QOL scores in the following areas of their lives: health, self-esteem, goals and values, play, learning, creativity, helping, love, friends, children, and home (all P < .003).

CONCLUSIONS: Lower overall QOL and in specific domains of life highlight the complexity of overall life satisfaction measures in people with TTM. Further research may provide direction on future interventions and insight for family and/or friends supporting individuals with TTM.