title: Smoking in infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome: baseline validation of self-report and effects on phenotype.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Do women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) seeking fertility treatment report smoking accurately and does participation in infertility treatment alter smoking?
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-report of smoking in infertile women with PCOS is accurate (based on serum cotinine levels) and smoking is unlikely to change over time with infertility treatment.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Women with PCOS have high rates of smoking and it is associated with worse insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary study of smoking history from a large randomized controlled trial of infertility treatments in women with PCOS (N = 626) including a nested case-control study (N = 148) of serum cotinine levels within this cohort to validate self-report of smoking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women with PCOS, age 18-40, seeking fertility who participated in a multi-center clinical trial testing first-line ovulation induction agents conducted at academic health centers in the USA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, self-report of smoking in the nested case-control study agreed well with smoking status as determined by measure of serum cotinine levels, at 90% or better for each of the groups at baseline (98% of never smokers had cotinine levels <15 ng/ml compared with 90% of past smokers and 6% of current smokers). There were minor changes in smoking status as determined by serum cotinine levels over time, with the greatest change found in the smoking groups (past or current smokers). In the larger cohort, hirsutism scores at baseline were lower in the never smokers compared with past smokers. Total testosterone levels at baseline were also lower in the never smokers compared with current smokers. At end of study follow-up insulin levels and homeostatic index of insulin resistance increased in the current smokers (P < 0.01 for both) compared with baseline and with non-smokers. The chance for ovulation was not associated with smoking status, but live birth rates were increased (non-significantly) in never or past smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The limitations include the selection bias involved in our nested case-control study, the possibility of misclassifying exposure to second hand smoke as smoking and our failure to capture self-reported changes in smoking status after enrollment in the trial.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because self-report of smoking is accurate, further testing of smoking status is not necessary in women with PCOS. Because smoking status is unlikely to change during infertility treatment, extra attention should be focused on smoking cessation in current or recent smokers who seek or who are receiving infertility treatment.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Sponsored by the Eugene Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00068861 and NCT00719186.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA rsl1@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Legro
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Allen R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kunselman
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Schlaff
authors.affiliation: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coutifaris
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sandra A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Steinkampf
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: McGovern
authors.affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Cataldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriella G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Gosman
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Nestler
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Evan R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yale School for Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Heping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Foulds
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000150:complications*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D010641:Phenotype; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D003367:Cotinine
keywords: anovulation; cigarette smoking; hyperandrogenism; infertility; obesity