Evaluation of Adolescents for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in an Urban Population

OBJECTIVE To assess the quality of diagnostic work-up received by patients with "possible" polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). DESIGN A retrospective chart review. SETTING A hospital based Pediatric Clinic in New York City. PATIENTS Sixty female patients aged 13-19 years, with a primary ICD-9 diagnosis of ovarian dysfunction (256), menstrual irregularity (626), or hirsutism (704.1) were randomly selected for evaluation. In addition, 18 patients who were assigned the same ICD-9 codes at the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic were assessed. MAIN OUTCOME Rates of assessment for diagnostic criteria of PCOS and selected co-morbidities. RESULTS Twenty-five percent (15/60) of the patients were evaluated for PCOS according to the Rotterdam Criteria, and only 2 were evaluated for common co-morbidities associated with PCOS. Of the 28 patients who presented with two or more signs of PCOS (menstrual irregularity plus either obesity, hirsutism and/or acne), 15 were evaluated for PCOS (54%), but only 7% were assessed for common co-morbidities. All patients referred to the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic received appropriate evaluation for PCOS. In addition, 89% of the study group underwent further assessment for selected complications of PCOS. CONCLUSIONS Patients presenting to an inner-city pediatric clinic with "possible" PCOS often do not receive a complete diagnostic evaluation. In addition, those evaluated for PCOS are often not adequately screened for the known health consequences associated with this condition. These findings suggest that PCOS is under evaluated and possibly under diagnosed in this pediatric population, which raises serious concerns regarding the potential for major longterm public health consequences.