Objective: To test the hypothesis that scoring terminal hair growth on only the chin or abdomen can serve as a reliable predictor for hirsutism.
Design: A prospective observational study.
Patient(s): Six hundred and ninety-five consecutive hyperandrogenic women seen between June 1987 and December 1997.
Main outcome measure(s): 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.
Result(s): 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%.
Conclusion(s): 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).