Knowledge of Iatrogenic Premature Ovarian Insufficiency Among Chinese Obstetricians and Gynecologists: A National Questionnaire Survey

Yanfang Wang, Ying Zou, Wei Wang, Qingmei Zheng, Ying Feng, Han Dong, Zhangyun Tan, Xiaoqin Zeng, Yinqing Zhao, Danhong Peng, Xiaomin Yang, Aijun Sun
2020 · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-80938/v1 · W4230845364
preprint OA: green CC0
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This national survey found that Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists generally recognize radiotherapy and chemotherapy as causes of iatrogenic POI but have lower awareness of newer therapies, hysterectomy, and immunosuppressants.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This paper reports results from a national online questionnaire survey of Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists (4,995 analyzed) assessing their knowledge of iatrogenic premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) risk from different cancer therapies and gynecologic procedures. Respondents most often recognized radiotherapy (73.5%) and chemotherapy (64.1%) as POI risk factors, while knowledge was lower for novel tumor treatments such as immunotherapy (31.8%) and tumor-targeting therapy (22.2%), with differences by specialty and hospital setting. Only 30.5% believed immunosuppressants increase POI risk, and respondents’ views on surgical/procedural causes (e.g., ovarian cystectomy vs hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy and uterine artery embolization) varied. The authors note that misunderstandings may exist due to limited convincing evidence, especially regarding links between newer therapies and POI. Relevance to endometriosis: the paper explicitly cites prior evidence that women with endometriosis or a history of pelvic surgery are more likely to have severely compromised ovarian function, including POI, which motivates the clinician knowledge context for POI.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Abstract Background: With increasing cases of iatrogenic premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), more clinicians are required to counsel patients regarding the gonadotoxic effects of iatrogenic treatments. This survey aims to explore obstetricians and gynecologists’ knowledge regarding iatrogenic POI. A national online questionnaire survey was conducted across China. Respondents were asked to select the iatrogenic condition(s) that can cause POI based on their experience and knowledge. Results: Of the 5,523 returned questionnaires, 4,995 were analyzed. Among tumor therapies causing POI, most respondents agreed that radiotherapy (73.5% of respondents) and chemotherapy (64.1%) are risk factors for POI. While only 6.5% and 7.8% of the gynecological oncologists believed tumor immunotherapy and tumor-targeting therapy, respectively, may cause ovarian impairment, 31.8% and 22.2% of the non-gynecologic oncologists believed that these therapies could affect ovarian health. Most respondents believed that ovarian cystectomy (54.4%) was a risk factor for POI, while only a few respondents believed that hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy (39.6%) and uterine artery embolization (33.5%) could cause ovarian impairment. Only 30.5% respondents believed that immunosuppressants increased the risk of POI. Views differed with experience and hospital setting. Conclusions: The knowledge of gonadal toxicity due to traditional tumor treatments is generally high among Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists. A misunderstanding may exist in primary care hospitals and general gynecologists regarding a link between novel tumor treatments and POI, owing to the lack of convincing evidence. Knowledge of POI caused by hysterectomy and immunosuppressants should be improved.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (36)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-19T01:45:01.086888+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK