The correlation between clinical and hormonal parameters in androgenisation

This study concerns 45 premenopausal women referred to Outpatient Clinic of Endocrinology for hirsutism. The degree of hirsutism was estimated using the semiquantitative scoring system by Ferriam and Gallwey. The authors studied the correlation between clinical manifestations of the disease and the following parameters: body mass index, plasma testosterone, DHEA-S, androstenedione and salivary testosterone, using a multiple regression analysis. A correlation (multiple R = 0.51) of borderline significance was found between the degree of hirsutism and all the above mentioned parameters together (p = 0.058). The relationship between each of these parameters and the severity of hirsutism was determined. Borderline significance was reached by plasma testosterone only (B = 0.34). There followed androstenedione (B = 0.14) and other parameters which showed a much lower, nonsignificant correlation index. Androgen levels constitute only one of the factors determining the severity of hirsutism.