SEMIQUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF BODY HAIR IN HIRSUTE WOMEN COMPARE WELL WITH DIRECT DIAMETER MEASUREMENTS OF HAIR SHAFTS

No standards exist for the evaluation of hair in hirsute women. This s tudy compared the semi-quantitative visual scoring of body hair, using the Ferriman & Gallwey scale, in 88 hirsute women with direct objecti ve measurements of hair shaft diameter and daily linear growth rates o f hair growing on the pre-auricular area of the face, the forearm, the anterior abdominal nail and the anterior thigh. There was a significa nt correlation between the semiquantitative score and diameter measure ments on the forearm, abdominal wall and thigh. There was no relations hip between linear growth rates at any of the four sites and the semiq uantitative score. The conclusion of this report is that suitably stan dardised and controlled semi-quantitative measurement of hair in hirsu te women with visual analogue scores would appear to offer information similar to that obtained by direct measurement of hair diameter.