title: Laser treatment improves quality of life of hirsute females.
abstract: Hirsutism has a significant impact on the quality of life of affected patients. We report a prospective study of 45 hirsute females attending a laser clinic. Of these, 15 patients completed a pair of modified dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaires, immediately before and at varying intervals (up to 6 months) after laser treatment. The mean DLQI score before treatment was 12.8 (median = 9.0, SD = 8.5). The mean DLQI score at 1-2 months was 7.0 (median = 2.5, SD = 10.0, P = 0.06), at 2-4 months it was 9.2 (median = 10.0, SD = 10.0, P = 0.48) and at 4-6 months it was 11.5 (median = 10.5, SD = 8.0, P = 0.88). There was a major improvement in DLQI score at 1-2 months but longer-term benefit was not observed. In a separate questionnaire, hirsute females (n = 45) reported a high level of patient satisfaction (71.1%) and willingness to have further treatment (77.8%) despite the fact that 97.1% had unwanted hair back at pretreatment levels at 6 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK. wjloo@hotmail.com
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Loo
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lanigan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006628:Hirsutism / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012008:Recurrence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome