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Five‐year efficacy of finasteride in 801 Japanese men with androgenetic alopecia
Author(s) -
Yoshitake Toshihiro,
Takeda Akira,
Ohki Kensaku,
Inoue Yuko,
Yamawaki Takanori,
Otsuka Saori,
Akimoto Minekatsu,
Nemoto Mitsuru,
Shimakura Yasuhito,
Sato Akio
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/1346-8138.12890
Subject(s) - finasteride , medicine , multivariate analysis , urology , prostate , cancer
Finasteride is standard medical treatment for androgenetic alopecia; however, no large studies with 5 years or more of follow up have been performed in Japan. The authors followed Japanese men with androgenetic alopecia treated with finasteride for 5 years to evaluate long‐term treatment efficacy. Of 903 men treated with finasteride (1 mg/day), 801 patients were evaluated over 5 years by modified global photographic assessment. Although the proportion of improvement was high (99.4%), modified global photographic assessment scores after 5 years of treatment were lower in patients with more advanced disease as measured by the modified Norwood–Hamilton scale. After separating patients into “sufficient” and “insufficient” efficacy groups according to the modified global photographic assessment score after 5 years (scores ≥6 and <6, respectively), multivariate analysis showed that independent risk factors of insufficient efficacy were age at start of treatment of 40 years or more ( P = 0.021) and classification on the modified Norwood–Hamilton scale ( P < 0.001), whereas presence of stress at start of treatment was a negative predictor ( P = 0.025). In conclusion, continuous finasteride treatment for 5 years improved androgenetic alopecia with sustained effect among Japanese. Younger age and less advanced disease at start of treatment were the key predictors of higher finasteride efficacy.