Evaluation of only the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism

BACKGROUND: Hirsutism is defined as the growth of terminal hair in a male pattern in women; it affects 5-15% of women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is evaluation of only the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional diagnostic study, we randomly selected 695 women aged 15-45 years. The examiners scored the subjects on a scale of 0 - 4 for terminal hair growth on nine different body areas according to the Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) scoring system in a form given to the examiners before the examination. An FG score of 8 or more was considered diagnostic of hirsutism. If the sum of the FG scores for the chin or lower abdomen was 2 or more, the test result was assumed to be positive. Statistical analysis was performed using the MacNemar test, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The age group with the highest prevalence rate was 21-25 years. From the 695 subjects examined, 81 subjects (11.7%) had an FG score of 8 or more with a resultant prevalence rate of 11.7% for hirsutism. In our study population, 39% of the patients had an FG score of 2 or more for the chin or lower abdomen, and 61% of the patients had an FG score of less than 2 for the chin or lower abdomen. CONCLUSION: Evaluating terminal hair growth on the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism seems to be an acceptable screening method.