Diabetes screening among women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A descriptive study of commercial claims, 2011-2019.

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder that affects 6-12% of United States women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and fall into high-risk groups according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) screening guidelines. Guidelines further indicate that an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) should be used for diabetes screening in women with PCOS instead of an A1C or fasting plasma glucose test. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to estimate rates of diabetes screening among a nationwide sample of commercially insured women with PCOS and 2) to report the percentage of women screened using each test (OGTT, A1C, fasting plasma glucose) among those who were screened.

METHODS

We used the MarketScan Commercial Claims database (2011-2019) to identify a sample of women aged 18-64 years with PCOS who were free from diabetes at baseline and had ≥ 5 years of continuous enrollment. PCOS was ascertained using International Classification of Disease diagnosis codes (ICD-9: 256.4; ICD-10: E28.2). Diabetes screening was ascertained using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes (A1C: 83036, 83037; Fasting blood sugar: 82947; OGTT: 82950). Diabetes screening rates were calculated for the overall study sample as well as across subgroups defined by age, overweight/obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and vascular disease.

RESULTS

In our sample of 191,110 commercially insured women with PCOS, 73.40% were screened at least once for diabetes during a five-year period. Among the women screened, 19.24% were screened using the Androgen Excess Society (AES)-recommended OGTT, 61.58% were screened using A1C, and 23.37% were screened using fasting blood sugar.

CONCLUSIONS

Almost 75% of women with PCOS comply with the ACOG screening guidelines for diabetes. However, while the OGTT is recommended as the preferred screening tool for women with PCOS, it was less commonly used than A1C and fasting blood sugar tests.