SIMPLER METHOD IN ASSESSMENT OF HIRSUTISM IN PCOS

Introduction : As the modified Ferrimanâ€“Gallwey (mFG) score is unsuitable for self-assessment and requires specialist training, a short, self-administered questionnaire to identify hirsutism was constructed and validated for large-scale application, particularly targeting population-based studies. Design: A validation study was conducted to assess a new hirsutism questionnaire (NHQ). Material and Methods: A total of 90 women aged 35-60 years who attended Chalmeda Anand Rao institute of medical sciences, Karimnagar and were diagnosed as PCOS were enrolled . A self-administered instrument containing four questions was designed to evaluate five body areas: upper lip, chin, chest, lower abdomen, and thighs with respect to the distribution of body hair.A score of 0â€“4 was attributed to each region based on drawings was provided in the instrument. An independent medical examination was conducted and compared the results to the gold standard modified Ferrimanâ€“Gallwey (mFG) score to test the reliability of this method. Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.87â€“0.99). A cut-off score of 5 showed the best balance between sensitivity (85%) and specificity (90%), with 88.9% accuracy. Conclusion: The accuracy and internal consistency of this self-administered questionnaire for the identification of hirsutism were good. Therefore, this questionnaire represents a useful tool for self-assessment of hirsutism in population-based studies.