Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is associated with well-being. Many women report dissatisfaction with the diagnostic process.
This study assessed the impact of aspects of the diagnostic consultation on subsequent well-being.
A retrospective community survey.
Females with PCOS (n=146) completed measures of aspects of the diagnostic consultation (consultation satisfaction, language used in terms of framing and focus) and current well-being (body esteem, quality of life).
Most diagnoses took place in Primary Care. The majority showed a medium degree of satisfaction with the consultation. Most diagnoses were framed using a neutral term 'raised' but many used the more judgemental term 'abnormal'. The majority focused on taking oral contraception and weight management. Poorer body esteem (body dissatisfaction and dieting behaviour) and poorer quality of life (self-identity, concerns about fertility, physical health, hirsutism and overall quality of life) were predicted by lower communication comfort during the diagnostic consultation and greater use of the word 'raised'. Greater use of the word 'irregular' predicted greater concerns about fertility, greater focus on fertility predicted greater concerns about physical health and greater focus on appearance predicted greater concerns about hirsutism.
How a diagnosis of PCOS is delivered can impact subsequent well-being. The diagnostic consultation may take a few minutes, yet how these minutes are managed, what words are used, and how this makes the patient feel may change how the patient makes sense of their condition and influence the impact of the condition on their well-being for the longer term.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 252. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 September 2022.
All research outputs
#186,115
of 34,568,501 outputs
Outputs from BJGP Open
#3
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#4,750
of 470,972 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BJGP Open
#1
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,568,501 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 963 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
