Degree of facial and body terminal hair growth in unselected black and white women: toward a populational definition of hirsutism.
BACKGROUND
Hirsutism (i.e. facial and body terminal hair growth in a male-like pattern in women) is the principal clinical sign of hyperandrogenism, although its definition remains unclear.


OBJECTIVE
The purposes of the present study were to define 1) the degree of facial and body terminal hair, as assessed by the modified Ferriman-Gallwey (mFG) score, in unselected women from the general population; 2) the effect of race (Black and White) on the same; and 3) the normative cutoff values.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective observational study at a tertiary academic medical center.


METHODS
Participants included 633 unselected White (n = 283) and Black (n = 350) women presenting for a preemployment physical exam.


METHODS
Interventions included history and physical examination.


METHODS
Terminal body hair growth was assessed using the mFG scoring system; nine body areas were scored from 0-4 for terminal hair growth distribution.


RESULTS
The mFG scores were not normally distributed; although cluster analysis failed to identify a natural cutoff value or clustering of the population, principal component and univariate analyses denoted two nearly distinct clusters that occurred above and below an mFG value of 2, with the bulk of the scores below. Overall, an mFG score of at least 3 was observed in 22.1% of all subjects (i.e. the upper quartile); of these subjects, 69.3% complained of being hirsute, compared with 15.8% of women with an mFG score below this value, and similar to the proportion of women with an mFG score of at least 8 who considered themselves to be hirsute (70.0%). Overall, there were no significant differences between Black and White women.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate that the prevalence and degree of facial and body terminal hair growth, as assessed by the mFG score, is similar in Black and White women and that an mFG of at least 3 signals the population of women whose hair growth falls out of the norm.
DeUgarte
Catherine Marin
CM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8635 West Third Street, Suite 160 W, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Woods
K S
KS
Bartolucci
Alfred A
AA
Azziz
Ricardo
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development*; D006628:Hirsutism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011153:Population; D011446:Prospective Studies; D044465:White People