Women self-perception of excess hair growth, as a predictor of clinical hirsutism: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
Hirsutism is the most common indicator of hyperandrogenism. Both, the sensitivity of the patients to the serum androgen levels and the responsiveness of women to the perceived excess hair growth vary among different populations. This report elaborates the relationship between the woman's discerned abnormal hair growths with the clinical diagnosis of hirsutism.


METHODS
The survey was conducted among 1160 women aged 18-45 and randomly selected from Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study for further detailed assessment of Hirsutism; using the m-FG scoring method. Data gathering was performed by interviews and physical examinations. The receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn and the new cutoff value, sensitivity, specificity and concordance percentage were calculated.


RESULTS
The results demonstrated that among 12 androgen-dependent body areas, the chin skin had the highest area under curve of 0.81 (CI; 0.78-0.84). According to the patient's evaluation, a threshold point of 4 had the optimum concordance percentage of 0.77 with the modified Ferriman-Gallwey scoring system.


CONCLUSIONS
Patient's self-identification of excess terminal hair based on the chin area has great sensitivity and reliability in predicting the clinical hirsutism.
Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, No 24, Parvaneh Street, Yaman Street, Velenjak, 19395-4763, Tehran, Iran, kazemijaliseh@gmail.com.
H
H
Kazemi
F
F
Ramezani Tehrani
S
S
Minooee
D
D
Khalili
F
F
Azizi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006628:Hirsutism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult