Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: To explore the trends over time in several assessments recommended by the International PCOS guidelines during the initial consultation for women with PCOS.

Methods: This retrospective multi-centre study was conducted from July 2023 to January 2024. All women over the age of 18 who attended their first consultation in a dedicated PCOS clinic from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2023 in the UK (n=359), Turkey (n=239), Greece (n=92) and Georgia (n=10) were included. Those undergoing follow-up or without PCOS were excluded. Data was collected on sociodemographics and assessments, including diagnosis based on guidelines, cardiometabolic risk, dermatological assessment, emotional well-being, long-term risk education, lifestyle management, and reproductive screening. Patients were categorised into four groups based on their first consultation date: A (January to December 2020), B (January to December 2021), C (January to December 2022) and D (January to December 2023). Descriptive statistics were analysed using SPSS 28.0.

Results: The most common reasons for referral across all years and centres were irregular menses (65.7%), excess hair growth (61.1%) and acne (38.9%). While irregular menses were the most common reason for referral during the pandemic (B(70.0%), C (65.1%)), women were most referred for hirsutism pre and post-pandemic (A (62.73%), D (68.31%)). The most common comorbidities across all years and centres were anxiety (9.7%), hypothyroidism (9.0%) and depression (6.7%). The most common comorbidity pre- and post-pandemic were depression (12.7%) and anxiety (11.3%), respectively. Interestingly, anxiety and depression were not among the common co-morbidities during the pandemic. During the consultation, the most common parameters assessed across all years and centres were dermatological concerns (92.4%), reproductive screening (83.0%) and lifestyle management (80.4%). Similar trends were screened across all years. Long-term risk management was the least performed recommendation per international PCOS guidelines across all years and centres (56.1%), followed by screening for emotional well-being (59.0%). There were no alterations in the trend for these parameters over time (emotional well-being: A-23.6%, B-61.4%, C-60.1%, D-81%, long-term risk management: A-26.4%, B-59.5%, C-56.3%, D-73.9%).

Conclusion: There is a gap in the assessment and education provided during PCOS consultations, specifically in emotional well-being and long-term risk management. The study emphasises the need for a standardised approach to ensure consistent and comprehensive care. Developing new models of care that prioritise emotional well-being screening and long-term risk education is crucial to addressing these gaps and improving patient outcomes.