Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Considering the high prevalence of metabolic and mental health issues associated with PCOS, it is important to screen for these routinely in clinic. We aimed to implement a standard approach to ensure we do this in our specialist PCOS clinic.

Methods: We introduced a standard ‘PCOS clinic pack’ which included the following documents and data collected for analysis

1. Checklist for doctors to ensure the long term health consequences of PCOS (metabolic and mental health) are discussed with patients.

2. Introductory letter on arrival at reception to inform patients about the process, with space to document the subjects they wished to discuss with their physician.

3. Epworth Sleep Apnoea questionnaire

4. Modified Ferriman-Gallway self-scoring form.

Results: 124 women with PCOS, mean age 32 years, attended the speciality clinic between January and April 2017. 88 (70%) of the packs were returned and not all data sets were complete. 57 patients had documented their agenda, which could be broadly categorised into ‘explanatory / reassurance’ and ‘treatment’ related concerns about their PCOS. Example questions were

“What can I do about my…. ”: hair, weight, irregular periods OR

“Can you explain…”: “what is PCOS”, “My fertility chances” and “my treatment options”.

Conclusion: A systematic check-list approach has been shown to be successful in other endocrine conditions such as Turner’s syndrome. During a routine clinic, there is a risk that important aspects of PCOS may be missed both from the doctor and patient perspective. We aim to refine our ‘PCOS clinic pack’ further to capture and present more data in the future, and have started education groups to ensure patients with PCOS’ agendas are fully met.