General Public knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice towards Hair Dye Usage and its Adverse Effects in the Northern Emirates of the United Arab Emirates

INTRODUCTION: Hair dye (HD) use is extremely prevalent in today's modern world. However, frequent use of HD has raised concerns about its safety, causing detrimental effects on health. The study aimed to assess the general population's knowledge, attitude, and practice towards HD usage and its adverse effects in the northern emirate of the United Arab Emirates.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted for three months in the general population of Ras Al Khaimah. Information was collected by providing a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire related to hair dyes. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression to correlate HD use to various sociodemographic variables. Results with a p-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: In total, 333 of the 405 distributed questionnaires completed the study with a response rate of 82.20%. The majority (52.85%) of the participants were using natural hair dyes, and most (30.59%) admitted that the motivation to use the HD was to get rid of grey hair. Of the total, nearly 75% of the study sample agreed that they had never performed an allergic test before using the HD, and almost 70% believed that providing advice regarding the HD would be beneficial. Genders (P<0.0001), age (in years) (p=0.032), and occupation (p=0.042) were associated with the frequency of HD use, which is statistically significant
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In the present study, HD is common among students, employees and in middle-aged groups. Approaches such as educational awareness programs with special attention on the safe and effective use of HDs may help to select appropriate HDs and avoid preventable adverse effects.