Signs of Potential Androgen Excess Across the Lifespan in a US-based Digital Cohort Study
Authors' conclusion
In this large cohort, signs of potential AE varied by demographic and health factors. These results could provide a new understanding of how potential AE may appear differently in diverse groups, informing future work to develop more inclusive evaluation at a population level.
Study context
- Population
- Participants enrolled November 2019 to December 2022 in a US digital cohort; age range 18–86 years
- Participants
- 24,435 participants
- Outcome
- Prevalence of self-reported signs of potential androgen excess: possible hirsutism (thick coarse hair on ≥4 of 8 body locations), chin hair, hair loss on top of head, moderate to severe acne
Methodological detailsdigital cohort, self-reported
- Digital cohort
- Self-reported
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prevalence of signs of potential androgen excess
Possible hirsutism
6.9%
Several/a lot of hair on the chin
12.6%
Significantly reduced hair/visible scalp on top of head
1.7%
Moderate to severe acne
31.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Variation by age
- Possible hirsutism and moderate to severe acne decreased with age; chin hair and hair loss on the head increased with age
Possible hirsutism by ethnicity
- Hispanic
- 11.2%
- South Asian
- 16.9%
- Non-Hispanic White
- 6.3%
Possible hirsutism by BMI
- Higher BMI associated with higher prevalence of possible hirsutism
Moderate to severe acne and PCOS
- More common among those with PCOS
Hormonal contraception
- Possible hirsutism and hair loss less common among participants using hormones for contraception
Original publication
Signs of Potential Androgen Excess Across the Lifespan in a US-based Digital Cohort Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 10 October 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →