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. 2021 Aug;110(8):2424-2429.
doi: 10.1111/apa.15814. Epub 2021 Mar 2.

Health behaviour of women with Turner Syndrome

Maristella Santi  1 , Christa E Flück  1   2 , Michael Hauschild  3 , Beatrice Kuhlmann  4 , Claudia E Kuehni  1   5 , Grit Sommer  1   2   5
Affiliations

Health behaviour of women with Turner Syndrome

Maristella Santi et al. Acta Paediatr. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Aim: This study assessed lifestyle-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease in young women with Turner syndrome.

Methods: In 2012, we sent a questionnaire to women with Turner syndrome aged ≥18 years and living in Switzerland with questions on socio-demographic and medical data as well as health behaviour. We compared the reported lifestyle with that of women from the Swiss Health Survey 2012, a representative survey of the general population.

Results: Fifty-seven per cent (45/79) of women with Turner syndrome answered the questionnaire (mean age: 24 years). Eighty per cent (36/45) had never smoked compared with 58% (1156/1972) of the general population (p < 0.01). Women with Turner syndrome engaged less often in binge drinking (34% vs. 71%) (p < 0.001), but consumed alcohol equally often as the general population (p = 0.327). They performed sports as often as the general population (p = 0.34), but only one quarter (11/45) of women with Turner syndrome adhered to official physical activity recommendations.

Conclusion: Although most women with Turner syndrome had a healthy lifestyle, only a minority had sufficient physical activity. Paediatricians should promote structured physical activity in girls with Turner syndrome from early childhood onwards to reduce their cardiovascular risk in adulthood and to increase long-term health-related quality of life.

Keywords: Turner syndrome; alcohol; physical activity; smoking; sports.

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Conflict of interest statement

We report no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Smoking status, alcohol consumption, binge drinking and physical activity in women with Turner syndrome (TS, N = 45) compared to women from the Swiss Health Survey (SHS, N = 1972)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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