Research
Hormonal
Obesity-associated gonadal dysfunction is highly prevalent in severely obese patients, affecting 36% of women (PCOS) and 64% of men (MOSH).
If you are severely obese, you are at high risk for hormonal reproductive issues. About 1 in 3 severely obese women has PCOS, and nearly 2 in 3 severely obese men has low testosterone (MOSH). Screening for these conditions is recommended during initial diagnostic workup for severe obesity.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
PCOS was present in 36% (95CI 22–50) of women and MOSH was present in 64% (95CI 50–77) of men.
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of prevalence.
Source
Prevalence of ‘obesity-associated gonadal dysfunction’ in severely obese men and women and its resolution after bariatric surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Héctor F. Escobar‐Morreale et al. · Human Reproduction Update · 2017
DOI 10.1093/humupd/dmx012
Meta-analysis · 29 studiesCited 237×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Bariatric surgery resolves obesity-associated gonadal dysfunction (PCOS in women, MOSH in men) in the vast majority of severely obese patients, with resolution rates of 96% for PCOS and 87% for MOSH.Strong
- Bariatric surgery reverses the sex-specific hormonal imbalances caused by obesity: it increases testosterone in men and decreases testosterone in women, while increasing SHBG and decreasing estradiol in both.Strong
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