Epidemiology of hirsutism among women of reproductive age in the community: a simplified scoring system..
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 08/20/2012
Clinical Article
Li R et al. – The purpose of the study was to generate large sample evidence for the clinical diagnostic criteria of hirsutism and to simplify the modified Ferriman–Galwey (mF–G) scoring system for Asian women. It was seen that an mF–G scoring >4 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in this population. The results also suggest that hair growth involving the upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen with scores >2 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in women in the community.
- This study was a large–scale, cross–sectional epidemiologic investigation conducted in 10 provinces of China.
- A total of 10,120 reproductive–age women in the community were involved in using the mF–G scoring system to evaluate hirsutism.
- Of the participants, 95.5% had an mF–G score <5.
- The strongest contributors to the nine mF–G positions were upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen. If the cut–off value was set at 2 for these 3 areas, the area under the ROC curve was 0.987 (95% CI 0.983–0.992), which had a sensitivity of 98.7% and a specificity 91.0%.
- The percentage of hirsutism (mF–G score >4) and the average mF–G score decreased with advancing age.
