The definition of hirsutism in an Australian-developed international guideline on management of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) could lead to overdiagnosis of the syndrome, a leading endocrinologist warns.

Professor Susan Davis, director of women’s health research at Monash University, Melbourne, says the cut-offs for abnormal hairiness are too low and could pathologise healthy women.

An international evidence-based guideline for the assessment and management of PCOS developed by Professor Helena Teede, also from Monash University, suggested Caucasian women who scored more than three on the widely used Ferriman-Gallwey scale should be regarded as excessively hairy.

The comparable figure for Asian women on the scale, which measures female hairiness from zero to 36 (with 36 being the most hairy), was a score of more than five.