Endocrine Abstracts

The aim of this epidemiologic study, performed in a wide population of high-school students in Northern Italy, was to obtain an unbiased estimate of the prevalence of hyperandrogenic states in adolescents and young females.

2052 female students, aged 15–19 years, were consecutively contacted. 939/2052 (45.8%) refused to participate in the study, but 431 of the 939 non-participants (45.9%) agreed to fill out a brief questionnaire aimed to broadly assess clinical hyperandrogenism. 1113/2052 (54.2%) participated in the study (group A) that included a medical visit and a nutritional interview. Hirsutism was scored through the modified Ferriman-Galley score and androgenic alopecia through the Ludwig scale. Number of menses in the previous year was recorded and used to define menstrual dysfunction. 570/1113 participants (group B) also agreed to give a blood sample for the measurement of testosterone by isotopic dilution-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS); the reference interval was established in-house using a subgroup of 149 healthy, normal-weight and untreated students. 203 students were subsequently excluded from group A because of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs); 105 students were subsequently excluded from group B because of OCPs and 20 students because of thyroid dysfunction or hyperprolactinemia. Within group A we found: 109 students (12.0%) with isolated menstrual dysfunction; 134 students (14.7%) with isolated clinical hyperandrogenism (hirsutism and/or androgenic alopecia); 32 students (3.5%) with the association between menstrual dysfunction and clinical hyperandrogenism. Within group B we found: 40 students (9.0%) with isolated menstrual dysfunction; 66 (14.8%) with isolated clinical hyperandrogenism; 17 (3.8%) with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (menstrual dysfunction, clinical hyperandrogenism and high testosterone levels); 26 (5.8%) with isolated hypertestosteronemia; 5 (1.1%) with the association of clinical hyperandogenism and high testosterone levels, but with regular menses. These data show that hyperandrogenic states are common in adolescent and young women, thereby supporting the need for specific diagnostic criteria.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details are unavailable.