impact of hirsutism on the quality of life: a cross-sectional pilot study using dermatology life quality index fromwestern india

Background: hirsutism is defined as excess terminal hair growth over androgen-dependent areas in women. it may cause significant social and psychological stigma with a negative impact on the quality of life. however, there is a dearth of data regarding this important parameter from the indian sub-continent. objectives: a cross-sectional study was performed to elucidate the quality of life of women with hirsutism using the dermatology life quality index (dlqi). methods: the severity of hirsutism was graded by modified ferriman-gallwey score (f-g score) and correlated with quality of life by employing self-administered questionnaires of dlqi. results: of 40 women with hirsutism (mean dlqi score 5.55 ± 1.501), 3% demonstrated no effect, 52% small effect, and 45% moderate effect. among domains, “symptoms and feelings” had the highest mean dlqi. moreover, f-g score and dlqi had a weak positive but insignificant correlation. there was no significant correlation between dlqi and variables like age, marital status, occupation, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (pcos). conclusions: hirsutism had a small to moderate impact on the quality of life, with symptoms and feelings as the most affected domain.