The Prevalence of Idiopathic Hirsutism and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

In the 2011 study by Tehrani et al., involving 1,002 reproductive-aged women from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, the prevalence of idiopathic hirsutism (IH) was found to be 13.0% (95% CI: 10.9% -15.1%), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was 8.5% (95% CI: 6.8% - 10.2%) based on the National Institute of Health (NIH) criteria. The study underscored that a significant number of PCOS cases could be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed without considering subclinical menstrual dysfunction or biochemical hyperandrogenemia. The findings indicate that IH and PCOS are prevalent among reproductive-aged women and that the prevalence is greatly affected by the diagnostic criteria and screening methods used. The study suggests the need for a universal PCOS screening strategy to enhance research comparability and support the screening of milder and subclinical PCOS phenotypes at the community level. However, the study did not use vaginal ultrasonography, which may have resulted in an underestimation of PCOS prevalence.