Improved diagnostic performance for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome using age-stratified criteria

Abstract

To determine optimal criteria for polycystic ovary morphology. Cross-sectional study. Multidisciplinary polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) clinic at a tertiary academic center. Subjects with PCOS were seen between 2006 and 2015 and met PCOS 1992 National Institutes of Health criteria. Controls were from the Ovarian Aging (OVA) study (2006-2011), a longitudinal study including healthy women with regular menstrual cycles. Clinical data collection. Follicle number per ovary (FNPO) and ovarian volume (OV). A total of 245 subjects with PCOS and 756 OVA study subjects were included in the FNPO analysis and had a mean (± SD) FNPO of 22.6 ± 12.4 and 10 ± 5.3, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curves were created for both FNPO and OV and analyzed across age group categories (25 to <30, 30 to <35, and 35 to <40years). Youden's and minimum distance (d) were used to compare efficacies of FNPO and OV thresholds. The optimal threshold for distinguishing PCOS from OVA controls was FNPO > 13. There was a decreasing trend in FNPO threshold with increasing age group (>15, >14, and >12, respectively). A total of 297 PCOS subjects and 756 OVA study subjects were included in the OV analysis and had a mean maximum OV of 10 ± 5cm3 and 6.5 ± 5cm3, respectively. The overall threshold was OV > 6.75cm3, with a trend toward decreasing OV with increase in age group (>8.5, >7, and >6.25cm3, respectively). Our findings reflect that age-stratified thresholds demonstrate superior diagnostic performance, with an improved balance of sensitivity and specificity compared with a single threshold. We propose age-specific thresholds for better diagnostic performance.