A simplified questionnaire for self-assessment of hirsutism in population-based studies

Comparison of self-assessed and clinician-assessed hirsutism diagnosed according to the modified Ferriman-Gallwey scale among female outpatients in Brazil

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a self-assessment questionnaire for hirsutism using the latest cutoff values recommended by the Endocrine Society (ES) for Latin-American women and by the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

Subject and methods

Female premenopausal outpatients (n = 188) completed a self-assessment questionnaire, scoring hair presence across the nine areas evaluated by the modified Ferriman-Gallwey (mFG) scale. The results were compared with clinician-assessed scores rated independently by two trained physicians. Scores in the Hirsuta questionnaire, derived from self-assessment of five areas of the mFG scale, were also evaluated.

Results

The ethnic composition of the sample was as follows: 23.1% white, 25.8% black, 48.9% mixed, and 2.1% other backgrounds (Indigenous, Asian). The participants had age and BMI of (mean ± standard deviation) 33.7 ± 9.9 years and 29.8 ± 7.21 kg/m2, respectively. The most common areas of excessive hair growth were the chin, upper and lower abdomen, and thighs. Relative to clinician-assessed mFG scores, self-assessed mFG scores had an accuracy of 80% using ES criteria for hirsutism diagnosis, with a sensitivity of 95.45%, specificity of 56.25%, positive predictive value of 30.10%, and negative predictive value of 98.40%. Self-assessed mFG had lower accuracy (71%) for diagnosing hirsutism when the ESHRE criteria were applied.

Conclusions

Self-assessed mFG had low specificity, limiting its application. The results of this study do not support the use of the self-assessed mFG or Hirsuta scores for diagnosing hirsutism in a clinical setting, although both scoring systems may be useful for screening hirsutism in epidemiological studies.

A Review and Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence and Health Impact of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Among Medical and Dental Students

Women currently comprise the majority of students graduating from medical school and face unique stressors not seen with their male counterparts. In particular, during their medical education, women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) experience symptoms of the disorder, which strongly impact both their academic and social lives. This in turn influences their academic and professional future. Although women as medical professionals, in general, are happy with their careers, awareness, and understanding on the part of medical educators will definitely be helpful to women medical students in their path to being successful medical professionals. The first objective of our current study is to find the prevalence of PCOS in medical and dental students. The second objective is to find the academic and health impacts of PCOS and what type of interventions are being adopted to relieve the symptoms. Using the keywords such as "PCOS," "medical students," and "dental students", the search engines PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were used to retrieve relevant articles published from 2020 to 2022. After removing the duplicates, 11 prospective cross-sectional studies were utilized for qualitative and quantitative analysis. The pooled prevalence of 2,206 female medical students diagnosed with PCOS was 24.7%. The students in the various studies were aware of their PCOS diagnosis and were taking therapeutic medications. The most common associated complications reported were BMI abnormalities, abnormal hair growth, and acne, along with other complications such as stress and poor academic and social life. The majority also had significant family histories of concurrent clinical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and other menstrual abnormalities. Considering the huge impact of PCOS, medical educators, policymakers, and all stakeholders should take proactive measures to accommodate students' needs and bridge the social gap. Special awareness of needed lifestyle changes should be a part of the medical education curriculum for an inclusive educational environment, as it will minimize the gender discrepancy in academic satisfaction and professional life.