How communicating a diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) impacts wellbeing: a retrospective community survey

Jane Ogden; Lucy Bridge

doi:10.3399/BJGPO.2022.0014

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Table 1. Participant and HCP demographics

Participants’ demographics
Current age	Mean = 27 (SD = 8.1)Range 18–71
Family history of PCOS	Yes = 38 (25.9%)No = 109 (74.1%)
Age at diagnosis	Mean = 21.2 (SD = 5.3)Range = 14–38
Years since diagnosis	Mean = 5.8 (SD = 7.3)Range = 0–42
Delay to diagnosis	Mean = 3.38 (3.1)Range = 0–12
Ethnicity	White = 124 (84.4%)
	Black = 2 (1.4%)
	Asian = 10 (6.8%)
	Other = 11 (7.5%)
Age of symptom onset	10–15 = 71 (48.2%)
	16–20 = 51 (34.7%)
	21–25 = 16 (10.9%)
	26–30 = 4 (2.7%)
	≥31 = 5 (3.4%)
HCP demographics at diagnostic consultation
Gender^a	Male = 60 (41.4%)
Gender^a	Female = 85 (58.6%)
Healthcare setting^a	Private = 33 (22.8%)
	Public = 112 (77.2%)
Healthcare profession^a	Nurse = 5 (3.4%)
	GP = 68 (46.9%)
	Gynaecologist = 50 (34.5%)
	Consultant = 22 (15.2%)

HCP = healthcare professional. SD = standard deviation.
^aMissing data n = 2.

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Table 2. Describing the consultation—consultation satisfaction

	Low(1–3.5)	Medium(3.6–4.5)	High(4.6–7.0)	Mean (SD)
Distress relief	53 (36.8%)	74 (51.4%)	17 (11.8%)	3.3 (1.3)
Communication comfort	21 (14.6%)	85 (59.0%)	38 (26.4%)	4.11 (1.2)
Rapport	38 (26.4%)	75 (52.1%)	31 (21.3%)	3.89 (1.4)

Missing data n = 3. SD = standard deviation.

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Table 3. Describing the consultation language used during diagnosis: framing of the problem

	Abnormal, n	Unusual, n	Irregular, n	Raised, n
Fertility
Testosterone	36	7	16	68 ^a
Periods	26	6	117 ^a	10
Infertility	15	13	19	33 ^a
Weight	19	6	14	69 ^a
Appearance
Acne	24	6	11	48 ^a
Hirsutism	25	12	1	33 ^a
Masculine characteristics	12	11	2	39 ^a
Total frequency	157	61	180	300 ^a

^aDenotes most frequent use.

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Table 4. Describing the consultation language used during diagnosis: focus of the solution

Focus of solution		Yes, n/N (%)	Rank ^a
Appearance	Acne medication	37/142 (26.1)	8
Appearance	Hair management/removal	35/144 (24.3)	9
Fertility	Metformin	46/144 (31.9)	6
	Use of implant	18/142 (12.7)	11
	Use of coil	29/142 (20.3)	10
	Early conception	50/143 (35)	5
	Oral contraception	102/145 (70.3)	1
Weight management	Lose weight	90/143 (62.9)	2
	Manage weight	86/144 (59.7)	4
	Alter diet	87/144 (60.4)	3
	Cut out food groups	43/143 (30.1)	7

^a1 = most frequent, 11 = least frequent.

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Table 5. Role of aspects of the consultation in predicting current wellbeing

	Body esteem		Quality of life
	Body diss(β, p)	Rest eating(β, p)	Self identity(β, p)	Fertility concern(β, p)	Sexual function(β, p)	Physical health(β, p)	Hirsutism(β, p)	Total quality of life(β, p)
Demographics
Current age	–0.150.14	–0.140.16	–0.180.07	–0.080.44	0.0090.92	–0.140.13	0.080.37	–0.060.49
Diagnosis age	0.140.15	0.030.78	0.23 0.01 ^a	0.170.07	0.150.11	0.130.13	–0.070.41	0.160.06
HCP gender	0.170.06	0.020.85	0.140.11	0.100.23	0.030.75	0.030.71	0.120.13	0.110.16
HCP qual	–0.060.5	–0.060.53	–0.150.08	–0.070.44	–0.0010.99	–0.130.11	–0.100.2	–0.130.11
Model 1 adj R^{2 /}F/ p	0.005/1.17/0.3	0.003/1.12/0.35	0.03/2.16/0.08	–0.002/0.94/0.44	–0.008/0.72/0.6	0.02/1.89/0.12	–0.01/0.31/0.8	–0.003/0.88/0.48
Communication satisfaction
Distress relief	–0.190.16	–0.070.59	–0.090.43	–0.090.45	–0.120.35	–0.010.92	–0.140.22	–0.150.19
Comm comfort	–0.260.03^a	–0.26 0.03 ^a	–0.24 0.02 ^a	–0.27 0.01 ^a	–0.120.29	–0.33 0.001 ^a	–0.29 0.004 ^a	–0.33 0.001 ^a
Rapport	0.210.15	0.150.15	0.110.43	0.140.31	0.090.31	0.170.19	0.26 0.04 ^a	0.230.07
Model 2 adj R²/ F/p	0.07/2.52/0.02 ^a	0.05/2.01/0.06 ^a	0.09/3.23/0.003 ^a	0.07/2.48/0.02 ^a	0.003/1.37/0.18	0.11/3.54/0.002 ^a	0.07/2.48/0.02 ^a	0.12/3.86/0.001 ^a
Framing and focus of language used
Irregular	–0.0050.9	–0.020.84	–0.010.87	0.21 0.01^a	0.090.31	0.130.09	–0.070.38	0.070.35
Raised	0.28 0.007 ^a	0.150.15	0.25 0.009 ^a	0.16 0.08 ^a	0.26 0.008 ^a	0.26 0.004 ^a	0.33 0.001 ^a	0.37 0.001 ^a
Abnormal	0.060.52	0.050.61	0.090.24	–0.020.79	–0.0040.96	0.110.18	0.120.12	0.110.18
Unusual	–0.0060.94	–0.110.22	–0.120.14	0.00010.99	–0.010.87	–0.050.51	–0.110.14	–0.090.20
Appearance	–0.080.38	–0.050.59	0.070.38	–0.040.67	0.010.87	–0.020.77	0.17 0.03 ^a	0.080.33
Fertility	0.060.5	0.090.34	0.040.65	0.130.13	0.0080.93	0.18 0.02 ^a	0.040.61	0.090.23
Weight	–0.0030.9	0.120.21	–0.040.65	0.030.77	–0.21 0.03 ^a	0.010.90	0.040.68	–0.070.39
Final Model adj R²/F/ p	0.10/2.06/0.02 ^a	0.07/1.77/0.05 ^a	0.15/2.76/0.001 ^a	0.12/2.40/0.005 ^a	0.03/1.37/0.17	0.22/3.92/0.001 ^a	0.24/4.3/0.001 ^a	0.27/4.73/0.001 ^a