Journal of

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Background and Aim: Hirsutism as a clinical presentation of hyperandrogenism has a negative impact on the mental health and quality of life. Therefore, determination of its prevalence and associated factors in communities are important. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hirsutism and its associated factors in dormitory students of Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Semana, Iran.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all of the female students of Semnan University of Medical Sciences dormitory were given a questionnaire which consists of three parts. The first two sections was designed to collect the demographic data and medical history including past medical history, drug history, menstrual condition and familial history of hirsutism. The third section included the grading scale of Ferrimen-Gallwey, that contains images of various parts of the body and hair growth. Participants were asked to determine their hair growth on the pictures. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) version 19. Chi squared test was used for comparison of proportions in different groups.

Results: From 330 participants, 119 students (36.1%) complained from hirsutism. 105 (31.8%) patients had mild and 14 (4.3%) students had moderate hirsutism. There was a significant correlation between hirsutism and irregular menstrual cycles, positive familial history of hirsutism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, polycystic ovary, hypothyroidism, use of danazol, and hoarseness (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of hirsutism in dormitory students of Semnan University of Medical Sciences. More clinical evaluation is suggested to determine various forms of hirsutism and the underlying conditions.

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Background and Aim: The cosmetic surgery is one of the prevalent phenomenons in recent decades. Body image is a key factor for interest in cosmetic surgery, but body image is a multidimensional concept and all its dimensions should be studied. This study aimed to study cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of body image in women interested in cosmetic surgery.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional research with causal-comparative method. A sample of 600 female students, age 18 to 35 years, were selected from universities in Tehran by using multi-stage cluster random sampling methid, who completed a set of questionnaires including “Beliefs About Appearance Scale (BAAS)“, “Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS)“, “the Body Image Coping Strategies Inventory (BICSI)“ and Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS). The collected data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

Results: The students who were interested in cosmetic surgery got a higher score in components of body investment as cognitive dimension and body dissatisfaction as emotional dimension. Among the three behavioral components of body image, there was significant difference only in appearance fixing coping (P<0.0001) and there were no significant differences in acceptance and avoidant strategies between students.

Conclusion: All of the cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of body image are important in cosmetic surgery, and women interested in cosmetic surgery not only had body dissatisfaction, but also had dysfunctional attitudes about appearance important in interpersonal relationships, personal achievement and self-concept, and used strategies based on body modification. These findings can be used in prevention and intervention programs.