title: Examination of the chin or lower abdomen only for the prediction of hirsutism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that scoring terminal hair growth on only the chin or abdomen can serve as a reliable predictor for hirsutism.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred and ninety-five consecutive hyperandrogenic women seen between June 1987 and December 1997.
  
  
  METHODS
  All hirsutism exams were performed by one examiner. Hirsutism was scored using a modification of the Ferriman-Gallwey (F-G) method. An F-G score of > or = 8 defined hirsutism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 695 women examined 352 (50.1%) had hirsutism scores of 8. Thirty percent (79 of 344) of women who had an F-G score of <8 had previously underwent electrology. If either the chin or lower abdomen hair growth score was > or = 2, the sensitivity was 100% for the prediction of hirsutism, although the specificity was 27%. The positive predictive value (PPV) for hirsutism using a hair score of > or = 2 at either of these sites was 58%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A hair growth score of > or = 2 on the chin or lower abdomen only was found to be a highly sensitive predictor for hirsutism. However, because of its very low PPV, this screening method is virtually useless in populations where the hirsutism frequency is expected to be low, about 5%. However, this screening method for the detection of hirsutism would be useful for the study of high-risk populations with an expected hirsutism prevalence of >20% (e.g., family studies).
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama 35233-7333, USA.
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Knochenhauer
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hines
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Conway-Myers
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azziz
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000328:Adult; D002680:Chin; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006197:Hair; D006628:Hirsutism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D017588:Hyperandrogenism / Q000150:complications; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity