OBJECTIVES: Using an epidemiological approach, evaluate and analyse subjects who consider their scalp to be sensitive. METHODS: A representative sample of the population aged 15 years old and over was taken by CSA Santé. A total of 1011 individuals were questioned by telephone and selected as per the quotas method. RESULTS: Statistically more women than men considered themselves to be "someone who has a very or rather sensitive scalp" (47.4% vs 40.8%, p=0.036).  While 5.7% of the total population declared that they suffered from a scalp disorder, 11.5% of these were in the sensitive population vs 1.1% in the non-sensitive population (p<0.001). 24% of responders complained of dry scalp, 58% had a normal scalp, 16% an oily scalp and 1% a mixed scalp. A total of 60.3% of responders with a dry scalp also considered that they had a very or rather sensitive scalp, while this percentage dropped to 58.4% in responders with oily scalps and finally to 32.9% in those with a normal scalp (p<0.001). Subjects with a sensitive skin experienced statistically more frequent stinging, itching and burning than those with non-sensitive scalps. The primary trigger factors were pollution for 54%, heat for 42%, emotion for 47% and shampoo for 47%. An emotional trigger was significantly more frequent in patients with a sensitive scalp than in the others (53.0% vs 41.4%.). A total of 65.8% of subjects reported sensitive skin declared they had a sensitive scalp vs 49.5% in the other responders (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Numerous factors can trigger sensitive scalp but not in a systematic fashion. This study made it possible to establish a link between the concepts of sensitive skin and sensitive scalp. Sensitive skin appears to be more frequently observed in patients with a sensitive scalp. Finally, the symptoms that characterise sensitive skin are not systematically the same as those that define a sensitive scalp.