The impact of birth weight and maternal history on acne, hirsutism, and menstrual disorder symptoms in Turkish adolescent girls.

The aim of the study was to determine the association between birthweight, maternal medical history and acne, hirsutism, and menstrual disorder symptoms in Turkish adolescent population. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all volunteer female students at 15 secondary schools. The subjects' body mass index, birthweight, age at menarche, pattern of menstrual cycle, and presence of acne or hirsutism problems were recorded. Maternal obstetric parameters, menstrual cycle, presence of acne or hirsutism at present and at adolescent period were also asked. The impact of birthweight and maternal history on acne, hirsutism, and menstrual disorder symptoms was evaluated. The results of the study showed that after exclusion of subjects born prematurely, total of 1,309 students filled the questionnaires properly and included in the study. Of these students, 174 had low birthweight (LBW) (<2,500 g), 925 had appropriate (2,500-4,000 g), and 210 had high birthweight (>4,000 g). LBW students had higher incidence of menstrual disorder and acne problems (P = 0.032 and P = 0.011, respectively). Maternal acne and hirsutism problems were significantly often in LBW group. Multivariate analysis showed that LBW was a predictor of acne, hirsutism, and menstrual disorder at adolescent period (P = 0.001; P = 0.01, and 0.02, respectively). In addition, maternal menstrual disorder was also a predictor of menstrual disorder (P = 0.035). We concluded that LBW is a good predictor of acne, hirsutism, and menstrual disorder problems in Turkish adolescent population.