Epidemiology of hirsutism among women of reproductive age in the community: a simplified scoring system

ObjectiveThe purpose of our research was to generate large sample evidence for the clinical diagnostic criteria of hirsutism and to simplify the modified Ferriman-Galwey (mF-G) scoring system for Asian women.Study designThis study was a large-scale, cross-sectional epidemiologic investigation conducted in 10 provinces of China. A total of 10,120 reproductive-age women in the community were involved in using the mF-G scoring system to evaluate hirsutism.ResultsOf the participants, 95.5% had an mF-G score <5. The strongest contributors to the nine mF-G positions were upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen. If the cut-off value was set at 2 for these 3 areas, the area under the ROC curve was 0.987 (95% CI 0.983–0.992), which had a sensitivity of 98.7% and a specificity 91.0%. The percentage of hirsutism (mF-G score >4) and the average mF-G score decreased with advancing age.ConclusionsAn mF-G scoring >4 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in this population. The results also suggest that hair growth involving the upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen with scores >2 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in women in the community.