Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: To explore the differences in various assessments recommended by the International PCOS guidelines during the initial consultation for women with PCOS across Europe.

Methods: This retrospective multi-centre study was conducted from June 2023 to January 2024. All women over age 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 were collected on sociodemographic variables and assessments, including diagnosis based on guidelines, cardiometabolic risk, dermatological assessment, emotional well-being, long-term risk education, lifestyle management, and reproductive screening. Descriptive statistics were analysed using SPSS 28.0.

Results: The most common reasons for referral across all countries were irregular periods (65.7%), excess hair growth (61.1%), and acne (38.9%). Irregular periods were the most common reason for referral in the UK (59.6%), Greece (82.6%), and Georgia (100.0%), followed by excess hair growth (UK: 53.2%, Greece: 65.2%, and Georgia: 90.0%). However, in Turkey, excess hair growth was the most common reason for referral (70.3%), followed by irregular periods (67.0%). The most common co-morbidities across all countries were anxiety (9.7%), hypothyroidism (9.0%), and depression (6.7%). Anxiety was the most common co-morbidity in the UK (14.2%) and Georgia (20.0%), whereas hypothyroidism was most common in Turkey (10.9%) and Greece (10.9%). During consultation, the most common parameters assessed across all countries, as per international PCOS guidelines, were dermatological concerns (92.4%), reproductive screening (83.0%), and lifestyle management (80.4%). Similar trends were found in Turkey, Greece, and Georgia, where dermatological concerns and lifestyle management were assessed in 100.0% of women. In Turkey, diagnosis based on guidelines (99.2%), cardiometabolic risk (99.2%), emotional well-being (99.6%), long-term risk education (99.6%), and reproductive screening (99.6%) were assessed in almost all women and in all women from Greece and Georgia. In the UK, dermatological concerns (85.2%), reproductive screening (67.1%), lifestyle management (61.8%), and cardiometabolic risk (60.0%) were mostly assessed for, whereas emotional well-being (20.3%) and long-term risk education (14.8%) were the least followed recommendations.

Conclusion: The findings highlight a significant difference in the assessment and education provided during PCOS consultations across countries in Europe, specifically in emotional-wellbeing and long-term risk education. Developing new models of care which prioritise emotional well-being screening and long-term risk education is crucial to address these gaps and improve patient outcomes.