Table 1. Characteristics of the nine studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Study (year) | Country | Study type | No. of patient | Age (yr) | Pre/postmenopausal | Finasteride dose (mg/d) | Duration (mo) | Methods of evaluating efficacies | Adverse effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iorizzo et al. (2006)2 | Italy | Prospective | 37 | 19∼50 | Premenopausal | 2.5 | 12 | GPA (−3∼3) | None |
| Patients' self-assessment | |||||||||
| Keene and Goren (2011) | United States | Randomized controlled | 8 | - | Postmenopausal | 1 | 6 | Hair density | None |
| Kim et al. (2012)5 | Republic of Korea | Prospective | 14 | 46.3 | Pre/postmenopausal | 1.25 | 7 | Hair thickness | - |
| GPA (−3∼3) | |||||||||
| Patients' self-assessment | |||||||||
| Oliveria-Soares et al. (2013) | Portugal | Prospective | 40 | Postmenopausal | 5 | 18 | GPA (−3∼3) | - | |
| Investigators' assessment | |||||||||
| Price et al. (2000)4 | United States | Randomized controlled | 62 | 41∼60 | Postmenopausal | 1 | 12 | Hair density, GPA (−3∼3) | 1 patient |
| Investigators' assessment | |||||||||
| Patients' self-assessment | |||||||||
| Whiting et al. (1999) | United States | Randomized controlled | 94 | 41∼60 | Postmenopausal | 1 | 12 | Hair density | - |
| Won et al. (2018) | Republic of Korea | Retrospective | 112 | 30∼73 | Pre/postmenopausal | 2.5 | - | Investigators' assessment (0∼2) | None |
| Yeon et al. (2011)3 | Republic of Korea | Retrospective | 85 | 21∼69 | Pre/postmenopausal | 5 | 12 | Hair density | 4 patients |
| Hair thickness | |||||||||
| GPA (−3∼3) | |||||||||
| Yamazaki et al. (2011) | Japan | Prospective | 37 | 29∼75 | Pre/postmenopausal | 1 | 6 | GPA (−3∼3) | - |
GPA: global photographic assessments.