Race, rather than skin pigmentation, predicts facial hair growth in women.

BACKGROUND

The Ferriman-Gallwey hirsutism score is the currently accepted standard for assessing excess hair growth that may indicate hyperandrogenicity. The score was originally based on 60 Caucasian women, and recent studies suggest that it may need modification to be used in other populations.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate ethnic, racial, and pigmentary variations in hair growth of the upper lip in diverse multinational populations.

RESULTS

Variations in hair growth of the upper lip were significantly related to self-reported ethnicity and race. In a logistic regression with racial groups and skin lightness, all racial groupings (African American, Hispanic, Asian Indian, and East Asian) were predictive of hair growth (all p<0.0001), but skin lightness was not (all p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

The observed differences in constitutive hair growth illustrate the need to develop an ethnically stratified visual scoring method to more accurately characterize the severity of excess hair growth.