Dataset Information

Socioeconomic status in patients with Turner syndrome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic condition with a broad phenotypic spectrum. In contrast to the medical conditions, socioeconomic factors are not well understood. Our goal was to evaluate the socioeconomic status (SES) among women with TS in a European-wide cohort, and to look for possible associated factors.

Methods

This study was part of the multicenter dsd-LIFE study, including 328 women with TS. We evaluated SES (education, occupation and income) using patient-reported outcomes. Furthermore, information was collected on karyotype, age at diagnosis, comorbidity, marital status, social integration and discrimination. Reference data on SES were retrieved from the European Social Survey. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to compare SES of the study population with the reference population, and to analyze possible associated factors.

Results

Women with TS showed a high level of education, employment status and satisfaction with income. In contrast, fewer women were living together and fewer social activities were reported compared with the reference population. The latter factors were more strongly associated with SES than medical factors. The unemployment rate was the highest in TS women aged 26-30 years, while a low education was associated with a later age at diagnosis. No major differences in SES were found among the different karyotype groups.

Conclusions

The SES in women with TS was generally comparable with the reference population, although they were less frequently living with a partner or having social activities. More attention is needed for (early) psychosocial screening and support, and strategies for earlier diagnosis of TS are necessary.

SUBMITTER: Noordman ID

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9216711 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Abstract Background: Turner syndrome (TS) is a disorder characterized by complete or partial absence of the second sexual chromosome and the most commonly found abnormalities are short stature and gonadal failure. Most TS patients need estrogen replacement but individual outcomes on uterine volume, breast development and vertebral bone density are highly variable. To our knowledge, the impact of polymorphisms in estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) over the variability in the development of secondary sexual characteristics and in adult height has not yet been evaluated in TS patients. Objective: To investigate the association among five ESR1 polymorphisms (rs543650, rs1038304, rs2046210, rs2234693 and rs9340799) and breast development, uterine volume, vertebral bone density, FSH and LH levels and adult height in TS patients. Methods: We selected 80 TS patients receiving adult estrogen dose for a minimum period of one year. Patients who had spontaneous complete pubertal development or who have Y chromosome material in karyotype were excluded from analysis. They were submitted to clinical and laboratory evaluation, pelvic ultrasound, bone densitometry and genotyping of the five chosen ESR1 polymorphisms through real time PCR. These polymorphisms were selected through active search in Pubmed and in GWAS catalogs, based on the following criteria: recurrence in studies, being Tag-single nucleotide polymorphisms (Tag-SNPs) or having a minor allele frequency (MAF) which allowed the present study with the available sample. Results: 61% of patients had 45,X karyotype and their mean target height was 158.9cm. 82% of them were treated with rhGH for 5 years on average and they reached a mean adult height of 149cm. Their average age of puberty onset was 14.4 years old and 10% of them had spontaneous thelarche. Their mean uterine volume was 30.1cc but ranged from 5.9 to 83cc. 91% attained adult breast development (Tanner 5) and 93% had normal vertebral bone mass after correction for height (by using the online calculator from University of Washington: courses.washington.edu/bonephys). Only 15% had FSH and/or LH lower than 10 IU/L in two or more measurements. Considering the ESR1 polymorphisms, all of them were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Statistical analysis with multiple linear regression showed that none of the studied polymorphisms was able to predict any of the above estrogen therapy outcomes in an isolated manner. Conclusion: We could not find a relationship among the studied ESR1 polymorphisms and estrogen therapy outcomes in patients with TS. However, the high variability in estrogen replacement results suggests that genetic variants play an important role. Other efforts to identify polymorphisms associated to estrogen outcomes may allow for individualization of treatment in TS.