Clinical assessment of body hair in Colombian women: determining the cutoff score that defines hirsutism

Hirsutism is a medical entity defined as the excessive growth of body hair in women with a male distribution pattern. For evaluation it is used a visual analog scale designed by Ferriman and Gallwey in the United Kingdom in 1961, subsequently modified by Hatch. This scale consists of nine body areas, obtaining a minimum total value of 0 and a maximum of 36. It has been established a value greater than 8 points for diagnosis of hirsutism in European women, but it is recommended that the diagnosis of hirsutism should be individualized according to the study population. To determine the most appropriate cutoff point for the diagnosis of hirsutism in a Colombian population by applying the Ferriman-Gallwey Modified scale. A random scale was applied to 323 women from Santander, between the ages of 18 and 50, and without risk factors for hirsutism. It was obtained a score between 0 and 9 in the Ferriman-Gallwey modified scale, and 53.5% of the women had an overall score between 0 and 1 points. The 96% of those examined evidenced a Ferriman-Gallwey score modified less or equal to 6. It is suggest a value less than or equal to 6 as the cutoff point for the diagnosis of hirsutism in our region.