Questionnaire Study to Assess the Outcomes of the Management of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Individuals

Overview

This is a questionnaire study involving women and young girls affected by Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and their parents. The aim is to obtain information regarding the outcomes of conservative or surgical management of CAH at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital (RMCH) in the last 50 years, with specific reference to genital appearance and its impact on patient's social/physical/emotional/sexual outcomes. The study wants also investigate on the individuals and parental perspectives on the proposal to take away the option of early childhood surgery for girls with this condition.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a heterogeneous group of autosomal-recessive disorders that results in virilisation of the female child due to intrauterine exposure to androgens at a critical phase of differentiation. Female infants may present with a variable degree of genital virilisation, and depending on it and on parental wishes, genital surgery (also called genitoplasty) is offered in infancy/early childhood. Some patients do not undergo surgery in infancy or early childhood, some of these patients may present at a later stage for consideration of genitoplasty, some may request further genitoplasty. In current practice, most clitoral procedures involve dorsal neurovascular bundle preservation. However, damage to the clitoral innervation through incision could lead to disruption of neurological pathways, compromising clitoral sensitivity, erotic sensation and pleasure. There is limited and controversial data measuring qualitative outcomes of sexual function and genital sensitivity following feminizing genitoplasty in childhood and it is very important to assess modern surgical and functional outcomes. Another controversial topic is the timing of surgery, early infancy versus delayed to adolescence/adulthood, when the patient is able to give her opinion. Currently there is extensive debate at national and international level about the best timing of such surgery and there are proposals to stop funding for all childhood surgery in the above group of children until they are old enough to make a decision. It is therefore imperative that this decision is informed by evidence, highlighting the importance and necessity of a study that aims to evaluate psychosocial and functional outcomes. An objective evaluation of outcome of those patients who have been managed under our care - either conservatively or surgically (early or delayed) - would give us data which will be helpful in assessing whether genitoplasty surgery is felt to be necessary by individuals/families and if so, when is the right time to perform it. It will also usefull to inform NHS England policy and also our consultation with children and their families thus aiding in the decision-making process. The main objective of this study is to obtain information on psychosocial and functional outcomes and to assess parental and patients' satisfaction with the current approach where parents are given the option of either conservative or surgical management. CAH affected individuals with virilisation of external genitalia raised as females and treated under the care of the team/co-investigators over the last 50 years at RMCH will be identified from the departmental prospective CAH database. They will ask to fill study-specific questionnaires that have been developed by the study committee to explore the study objectives. The questionnaires are directed to CAH affected individuals aged 16 years and over and the parents of CAH affected girls aged 2 years and over. The research will run over a period of 12 months. The completed questionnaires will be reviewed by a research team member to ensure that the questionnaire is complete and that participants have fully understood the questions. The analysis of the questionnaires will be done by the research team.