Relative Efficacy of Minoxidil and the 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors in Androgenetic Alopecia Treatment of Male Patients

A network meta-analysis of 23 trials compared the effectiveness of various treatments for male androgenetic alopecia. The treatments included different dosages of oral and topical minoxidil, dutasteride, and finasteride. The study found that 0.5 mg/d of oral dutasteride was the most effective treatment after 24 weeks, followed by 5 mg/d of oral finasteride and 5 mg/d of oral minoxidil. However, at 48 weeks, the greatest increase in total hair count was with 5 mg/d of finasteride. The study suggests that future trials could investigate the efficacy of dutasteride over longer time periods. The quality of evidence for these comparisons was generally low to moderate.