Global photographic assessment of men aged 18 to 60 years with male pattern hair loss receiving finasteride 1 mg or placebo

Background: Finasteride (1 mg) has been shown to increase vertex hair growth in men aged 18 to 60 years with male pattern hair loss and to increase frontal scalp hair growth in subjects aged 18 to 41 years.

Objective: A secondary efficacy analysis was conducted to determine effects of finasteride (1 mg) on scalp hair growth in the 4 distinct scalp regions affected by male pattern hair loss.

Methods: Multicenter, double-blind studies randomized patients with vertex hair loss (men aged 18-41 and 41-60 years) to finasteride (1 mg/d) or placebo. Efficacy was evaluated by review of standardized clinical photographs (global photographic assessment) of the vertex, anterior/mid scalp regions, and frontal and temporal hairlines over 24 months relative to baseline.

Results: At 24 months, treatment with finasteride resulted in statistically significant (P ≤ .05) hair growth versus placebo in all scalp regions. There was also a significant decrease in hair loss in the younger men treated with finasteride in all areas, but only in the vertex and anterior/mid scalp regions in the older men. A slightly higher incidence of drug-related sexual adverse experiences was reported in the finasteride group than in the placebo group, irrespective of age.

Limitations: These studies enrolled men with vertex pattern hair loss; therefore, the findings may not be extrapolated to men with predominantly anterior/mid scalp, frontal, or temporal hair loss.

Conclusion: Based on global photographic assessment, finasteride (1 mg) is able to increase hair growth in all areas of the scalp affected by male pattern hair loss.