Search

An adverse event following immunization (AEFI) can have consequences for an individual's future decision making and may contribute to vaccine hesitancy. AEFIs vary in severity and can be experienced directly (by an individual themselves) or indirectly (through witnessed or recounted events). We sought to measure the prevalence of specific AEFIs and understand which AEFIs have the greatest associations with reduced willingness to receive a vaccine and how injection anxiety may moderate the relationship. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey with both qualitative and quantitative elements in a sample of adults aged 18 years and over in Australia. Nineteen percent of the 1050 respondents reported experiencing an AEFI that they found stressful. Those who experienced an AEFI reported significantly higher levels of injection anxiety than those who did not. Within the group who reported experiencing an AEFI, respondents were significantly less likely to be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if they reported: indirect exposure to an uncommon/rare AEFI compared with other AEFIs (aOR:0.39; 95% CI: 0.18-0.87); indirect exposure to a scientifically unsupported AEFI compared with other AEFIs (aOR:0.18; 95% CI: 0.05-0.57). Direct exposure to an AEFI was not associated with willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. For those who reported experiencing an AEFI, the odds of willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine decreased significantly with an increase in injection anxiety (aOR:0.94; 95% CI: 0.9-0.98). Our results suggest that more is needed to mitigate the consequences of AEFIs on vaccine willingness. Empathically acknowledging at a community level, the experience of both real and perceived AEFIs and incorporating accounts of positive vaccination experiences in vaccine hesitancy interventions may be useful.

Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773), also known as the harlequin ladybird, is an invasive non-native species intentionally introduced to many countries as a biological control agent of agricultural pests. In Greece, H. axyridis was first introduced as a biological control agent in 1994, with releases taking place between 1994 and 2000. For many years there was no evidence to indicate that H. axyridis had established self-sustaining populations. In 2008, a citizen science campaign was initiated aimed at raising awareness regarding the invasive status of H. axyridis to farmers and agronomists. The campaign did not yield results, and it was discontinued in 2011. During this study, the distribution, phenology, and presence of H. axyridis in different habitat types and protected areas in Greece are investigated, using both citizen science data and literature records. Records from iΝaturalist, the Alientoma database and social media examined herein demonstrate that H. axyridis has been established in Greece since 2010. Harmonia axyridis is currently present in 13 administrative districts of Greece, most of them at a considerable distance from the initial release sites. The harlequin ladybird is present in urban and agricultural habitats as well as seventeen NATURA 2000 sites. The adverse socioeconomic and environmental impacts of H. axyridis are briefly discussed alongside suggestions for management activities. Based on our findings, we propose the establishment of a national monitoring scheme for H. axyridis and native ladybirds that will also encourage public participation in recording ladybird observations and provide information on the distribution, spread and impact of this invasive non-native species.

Το μάθημα της Κοινωνικής και Πολιτικής Αγωγής στην Πρωτοβάθμια Εκπαίδευση συμβάλλει στην καλλιέργεια ικανοτήτων διαχείρισης και αντιμετώπισης κοινωνικών και ηθικών προβλημάτων της ζωής και του κοινωνικού περιβάλλοντος των μαθητών. Η ανάπτυξη των συγκεκριμένων ικανοτήτων προϋποθέτει την καλλιέργεια οριζόντιων ικανοτήτων των μαθητών, όπως είναι η κριτική-εμπεριστατωμένη σκέψη, η δημιουργικότητα, η πρωτοβουλία, η συνεργασία, η ενσυναίσθηση και κυρίως ο κριτικός στοχασμός, με την έννοια της επαναξιολόγησης των δυσλειτουργικών απόψεων που μπορεί να εκφράζουν οι μαθητές για συγκεκριμένα ζητήματα στα οποία έχουν εμπειρία. Και αυτό γιατί οι μαθητές προκειμένου να μπορέσουν να διαχειριστούν και να αντιμετωπίσουν κοινωνικά και ηθικά προβλήματα της ζωής και του κοινωνικού τους περιβάλλοντος, συχνά χρειάζεται να προβούν σε ποιοτική αλλαγή του τρόπου σκέψης και συμπεριφοράς τους, γεγονός που θέτει τις βάσεις για τη σταδιακή ανάπτυξη ενός περισσότερο χειραφετητικού τρόπου σκέψης μέχρι να φτάσουν στο στάδιο της ενηλικίωσής τους. Στο παρόν άρθρο επιχειρείται να αναδειχθεί η σημασία αξιοποίησης σημαντικών έργων τέχνης στο γνωστικό αντικείμενο της Κοινωνικής και Πολιτικής Αγωγής στο Δημοτικό για την κριτική προσέγγιση κοινωνικών ζητημάτων που θίγονται στο ισχύον Αναλυτικό Πρόγραμμα Σπουδών. Αρχικά επισημαίνεται η σημασία καλλιέργειας οριζόντιων ικανοτήτων διά βίου μάθησης από την Πρωτοβάθμια Εκπαίδευση με στόχο την αποφυγή καλλιέργειας ενός μονοδιάστατου τρόπου σκέψης των μαθητών. Προκειμένου να επιτευχθεί αυτό, είναι απαραίτητη όχι απλά η ανάπτυξη της κριτικής-εμπεριστατωμένης σκέψης των μαθητών, η οποία βασίζεται στους κανόνες της λογικής και στοιχεία της είναι η ερμηνεία, η τεκμηρίωση, η ανάλυση και η αξιολόγηση μιας κατάστασης, αλλά η καλλιέργεια πτυχών του κριτικού στοχασμού των μαθητών. Ο κριτικός στοχασμός περιλαμβάνει όλα τα στοιχεία της κριτικής-εμπεριστατωμένης σκέψης, αλλά και την επαναξιολόγηση των βαθιά εδραιωμένων πεποιθήσεων του ατόμου, τον έλεγχο της εγκυρότητας των επιχειρημάτων στα οποία εδράζονται οι πεποιθήσεις αυτές και τη διερεύνηση των συνεπειών τους, με απώτερο στόχο τον μετασχηματισμό των δυσλειτουργικών του απόψεων για κάποιο θέμα που μελετάται. Στη συνέχεια του άρθρου γίνεται αναφορά στην αξιοποίηση της τέχνης ως μέσο ενεργοποίησης του κριτικού στοχασμού των εκπαιδευομένων. Κατόπιν, αναδεικνύεται η θέση που κατέχει η τέχνη στο ισχύον Αναλυτικό Πρόγραμμα Σπουδών για την Κοινωνική και Πολιτική Αγωγή στο Δημοτικό. Ακολουθεί η παρουσίαση δύο ενδεικτικών διδακτικών παρεμβάσεων σε ένα συγκεκριμένο κεφάλαιο από την Κοινωνική και Πολιτική Αγωγή της Ε΄ Δημοτικού, όπου αξιοποιούνται έργα τέχνης με στόχο την ανάπτυξη πτυχών του κριτικού στοχασμού των μαθητών. Στο τέλος γίνεται συζήτηση και εξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων. Σε όλο το άρθρο χρησιμοποιείται ένα γένος, χάριν οικονομίας του λόγου, χωρίς αυτό να παραπέμπει σε οποιαδήποτε διάκριση με βάση το φύλο.

Background: Parental refusal of routine childhood vaccination remains an ethically contested area. This systematic review sought to explore and characterise the normative arguments made about parental refusal of routine vaccination, with the aim of providing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with a synthesis of current normative literature. Methods: Nine databases covering health and ethics research were searched, and 121 publications identified for the period Jan 1998 to Mar 2022. For articles, source journals were categorised according to Australian Standard Field of Research codes, and normative content was analysed using a framework analytical approach. Results: Most of the articles were published in biomedical journals (34%), bioethics journals (21%), and journals that carry both classifications (20%). Two central questions dominated the literature: 1) Whether vaccine refusal is justifiable (which we labelled ‘refusal arguments’); and 2) Whether strategies for dealing with those who reject vaccines are justifiable (‘response arguments’). Refusal arguments relied on principlism, religious frameworks, the rights and obligations of parents, the rights of children, the medico-legal best interests of the child standard, and the potential to cause harm to others. Response arguments were broadly divided into arguments about policy, arguments about how individual physicians should practice regarding vaccine rejectors, and both legal precedents and ethical arguments for vaccinating children against a parent’s will. Policy arguments considered the normative significance of coercion, non-medical or conscientious objections, and possible reciprocal social efforts to offset vaccine refusal. Individual physician practice arguments covered nudging and coercive practices, patient dismissal, and the ethical and professional obligations of physicians. Most of the legal precedents discussed were from the American setting, with some from the United Kingdom. Conclusions: This review provides a comprehensive picture of the scope and substance of normative arguments about vaccine refusal and responses to vaccine refusal. It can serve as a platform for future research to extend the current normative literature, better understand the role of cultural context in normative judgements about vaccination, and more comprehensively translate the nuance of ethical arguments into practice and policy.

Introduction: Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) have demonstrated benefits for students' learning and development in medical education globally. The model emphasises importance with respect to continuity and time in the workplace for learners. There is a need to explore how LICs become a viable training model for learners. An amalgamative LIC model was drawn upon to inform the design of a placement for trainee pharmacists on a hospital ward. This study sought to determine the local viability of a longitudinal placement for trainee pharmacists, using communities of practice learning theory to interpret findings. Methods: A design-based research approach informed study design. A longitudinal placement was implemented on two hospital wards for 13 weeks. Trainees (n = 3) were interviewed four times over a 14-week period. Ward staff (n = 14) were interviewed at week 14. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Qualitative longitudinal analysis, using the trajectory approach, was conducted using abductive analysis. The coded data were organised into a framework and subthemes were created. Results: Trainees acquired membership within the multi-disciplinary ward team over time. This led to an enriched learning experience and the trainee's professional development improved as they attained more responsibilities. This enabled them to make a greater contribution to patient care; more medication consultations occurred, and discharge times improved. Discussion: The local viability of the longitudinal placement appears to be linked to the trainee's ability to acquire membership within the ward community of practice. Membership gave trainee's access to learning opportunities, supporting their development, and they earnt the trust of staff, leading to more responsibilities for providing patient care. Further research into developing longitudinal placements that support trainee healthcare professionals to acquire membership within communities of practice is warranted.

At center stage in Kazuo Ishiguro's work is the figure of the nonactor: a character type that confronts us time and again with scenarios in which action is devalued. This essay shows that, despite finding themselves in situations that mandate action, Ishiguro's characters opt instead for risk-averse and mechanical-like behaviors that are antonymous to change. This, however, is not a solely aesthetic phenomenon, and the essay examines the figure of the nonactor in Ishiguro's novels as part of a broader turn toward nonaction. It does so by considering this figure in relation to a distinctly twentieth-century context within which, as Hannah Arendt has it, human action came to be seen as more dangerous than ever before. Ishiguro's nonactors can be seen as the legacy, but also as the mutations, of this understanding in our own era and in the contemporary novel. This legacy, the essay demonstrates, reveals an underexamined aspect of the neoliberal mind-set that dominates the post–Cold War world. Rather than promote the worthiness of individual, self-serving action, Ishiguro's novels bring to the forefront something different though no less pernicious: a wholescale devaluation of the individual's capacity to act.

The social ecological system (SES) framework is used to investigate the success of discard management, by gathering knowledge from worldwide examples of discard management applications. The literature search confirmed that most efforts aiming to reduce discards were implemented under top-down management schemes. For about half of the case studies where management tools were applied, a reduction of discards was achieved. To determine the attributes that influence the discard management success, a probabilistic classifier model (Naive Bayes Classifier) was used. This revealed that commonly used interventions to reduce discards can be ineffective unless advice is given in alternative forms that have societal acceptance. The role of social cohesion and stakeholder enforcement mechanisms is underlined and increases the odds of meeting successfully the recommendations for achieving sustainable fisheries. A successful combination of attributes that can lead to the minimization of discards requires robust social capital along with top-down measures. Overall, the classification algorithm proves the usefulness of the SES framework to describe the fishery response to managerial efforts that aim to reduce discarding. Establishment of links between fishing communities and scientists are the key for enhancing stakeholder engagement, increasing compliance and minimizing discards.

Minimizing unwanted catches is a major milestone for achieving sustainable fisheries. In the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy, a landing obligation is being established progressively in European waters (Article 15, EU Regulation 1380/2013). Supplementary management measures have been proposed to support and enhance the effectiveness of this new regime. In this context, the effect of the landing obligation on a demersal mixed fishery (coastal and trawl fleet) in the Aegean Sea (NE Mediterranean Sea) was assessed in terms of both biological and economic sustainability. Our results show that the landing obligation alone does not ensure sustainable fisheries. Management action should be directed to the introduction of additional measures. Evidence suggests that improving selectivity and protecting the nursery grounds are possible solutions to decrease discards and ensure sustainable fisheries in the long term. The landing obligation can have a role in incentivizing the adoption of these management measures that ensure lower fishing mortality on juvenile fish., Minimizar las capturas no deseadas es un hito importante para lograr pesquerías sostenibles. En el marco de la Política Pesquera Común se está estableciendo progresivamente una obligación de desembarque en aguas europeas (artículo 15, reglamento 1380/2013 de la UE). Se han propuesto medidas de gestión complementarias para apoyar y mejorar la eficacia de este nuevo régimen. En este contexto, se evalúa el efecto de la obligación de desembarque en una pesquería mixta demersal (flota costera y de arrastre) en el mar Egeo (NE mar Mediterráneo), tanto en términos de sostenibilidad biológica como económica. Nuestros resultados muestran que la obligación de desembarque por sí sola no garantiza una pesca sostenible, y que la gestión debería enfocarse hacia la introducción de medidas adicionales. Las evidencias obtenidas sugieren que mejorar la selectividad de las artes de pesca y proteger las áreas de alevinaje son dos soluciones posibles para disminuir los descartes y garantizar una pesca sostenible a largo plazo. La obligación de desembarque puede tener un papel en incentivar la adopción de estas medidas de gestión, que aseguran una menor mortalidad por pesca en peces juveniles.

Background:\ud \ud Ensuring adequate knowledge about palliative care and positive attitudes towards death and dying are crucial educational aspects when preparing undergraduate nursing students to respond effectively to the complexities of care for people affected by a progressive, life-limiting illness. In undergraduate nursing education in Greece, the level of students' attained knowledge and developed attitudes towards palliative and end-of-life care remain unknown.\ud Purpose:\ud \ud To investigate undergraduate nursing students' knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards death and end-of-life care, and explore demographic and academic factors as potential moderators of student knowledge and attitudes.\ud Methods:\ud \ud We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey. We recruited 2nd, 3rd and 4th year undergraduate nursing students from the country's two University Faculties. Participants completed a demographic form, the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN), and the Frommelt Attitudes Towards Care of the Dying (FATCOD) questionnaire.\ud Results:\ud \ud The final sample was 529 students (response rate = 87.6%). Mean total PCQN scores revealed low levels of knowledge. Knowledge about pain/symptom management and psychosocial/spiritual care was insufficient. Mean total FATCOD scores indicated positive, liberal and supportive attitudes towards end-of-life care, with 60% of respondents keen to care for a dying person and their family. We noted less positive attitudes mainly in relation to student comfort with the care of a dying person and his/her imminent death. Academic parameters (year of study) and student demographic characteristics (older age) were the most significant moderators of both knowledge and attitudes. Greater knowledge about palliative care was a relatively weak, yet significant, predictor of more liberal attitudes towards care of the dying.\ud Conclusion:\ud \ud Our findings suggest that structured courses in palliative care can be a core part of undergraduate nursing education. Specific attention could be given to such areas patient-health professional communication, misconceptions and biases towards death and dying, and comfort in caring for the dying in order to prepare student nurses to psychologically deal with the sensitive and challenging process of death and dying.

The European Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species entered into force in 2015, with the aim to fulfill regional and international biodiversity goals in a concerted manner. To date, the Regulation listed 66 Invasive Alien Species (IAS) that are subject to legal controls. Only one of these is marine. A recent lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has been closely monitored in the Mediterranean and a detailed risk assessment was made about the profound impacts that this inva- sive fish is likely to have on the fisheries and biodiversity of the region. In 2016-21, lionfish rapidly became dominant predators along Eastern Mediterranean coasts, yet the process for their inclusion on the EU IAS list has been lengthy and is ongoing. There is an urgent need to learn from this expe- rience. Here, we recommend improvements to the Regulation 1143/2014 and the risk assessment process to protect marine ecosystems and secure the jobs of people that rely on coastal resources.

Background and purpose: There is increasing demand for suitably trained pharmacists to undertake clinical roles in primary care general practices across the United Kingdom. This necessitates development of sustainable training opportunities to both better prepare future registrants for such roles and raise awareness of the new career pathway. Educational activity and setting: Hospital pre-registration trainee pharmacists undertook four or eight-week placements in general practice as part of their training year. Trainees attended an introductory session and received educational support tools six weeks prior to their placements. Each trainee had an allocated clinical supervisor in general practice and maintained communication with their hospital tutor. On completion of all placements, trainees and general practice staff were asked to share perceptions and outcomes via online questionnaires. Findings: Most trainees reported that the clinical supervision arrangements were satisfactory and found the placement workbook useful for guiding daily activities. Key benefits from the placements included enhanced understanding of the patient journey across healthcare sectors, increased confidence, and raised awareness of general practice as a career option. Main limitations included restricted opportunities to engage in patient-centred activities and lack of integration with general practice teams. All trainees stated that the presence of a general practice pharmacist was essential for learning support. Summary: This model demonstrated the feasibility of structured block placements of trainee pharmacists in general practice with identified benefits for trainees and pharmacy workforce requirements. Future research:Identified key limitations to this model need further investigation, to improve the design of future placements.

In the last decades, cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) pose an intensifying ecological threat. Microcystis aeruginosa is a common CyanoHAB species in freshwater ecosystems, with severe toxic effects in a wide range of organisms. In the present paper we examined whether transient and short (48 h) exposure of fish embryos to sublethal levels of M. aeruginosa crude extract (200 mg biomass dw L

A newly introduced regulation renders the discarding of certain commercially important species illegal within the European waters progressively until 2019 (Article 15, EC Regulation 1380/2013). Thorough research is required in order to understand fishers’ perceptions and to achieve effective implementation of the regulation, as it is possible that certain implications might arise within the fishing industry and the associated communities after the shift to the new management regime. In this paper, fishers’ socio-economic behaviour is analyzed in relation to discarding practices under the “discrete choice” framework. Specifically, a variety of socioeconomic attributes, in the form of principal components that may affect the choices of the Greek bottom trawl fishers on three key discards’ drivers are analyzed to identify possible links between these. Utilizing the same attributes, eight hypothetical management tools that can be adopted for a smoother implementation of the discard ban are examined and the main results are discussed afterwards. Consistent patterns were revealed regarding fishers’ behaviour. An association of vessels’ efficiency with the probability to discard due to market limitations was evident, along with the association of different socioeconomic factors, such as the fishers’ age and the vessel’s crew size, with the incentives proposed regarding the introduction of awareness seminars. It is important to study these patterns carefully to understand the drivers and fishers’ motivation towards discarding. Their preferences on management tools that can be adopted by the EU member will also be considered, which can lead to a successful introduction of the regulation and a meaningful contribution into an effective management framework within which stakeholders can behave sustainably.

The European Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species entered into force in 2015, with the aim to fulfill regional and international biodiversity goals in a concerted manner. To date, the Regulation listed 66 Invasive Alien Species (IAS) that are subject to legal controls. Only one of these is marine. A recent lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has been closely monitored in the Mediterranean and a detailed risk assessment was made about the profound impacts that this invasive fish is likely to have on the fisheries and biodiversity of the region. In 2016–21, lionfish rapidly became dominant predators along Eastern Mediterranean coasts, yet the process for their inclusion on the EU IAS list has been lengthy and is ongoing. There is an urgent need to learn from this experience. Here, we recommend improvements to the Regulation 1143/2014 and the risk assessment process to protect marine ecosystems and secure the jobs of people that rely on coastal resources.

The estimated impact of the EU Landing Obligation was investigated, which bans discards of regulated species, in South European fisheries through stakeholders’ perceptions with the intention to identify implementation shortcomings and practicalities that might lead to obstacles to enforcement. Structured interviews were conducted with 173 fishers in 4 countries practicing 4 generic fisheries (as typified by the dominant fishing gear) asking a total of 26 questions. Results show that fishers estimate that the full implementation of the discards ban will result in longer sorting times. Added to the limited space on board, especially in the more productive trawl and purse seine vessels, this may lead to practical difficulties in relation to compliance. Most of the respondents estimate that there are no realistic possibilities of utilizing the formerly discarded fish in the short term, because of the lack of adequate infrastructure on land Furthermore, the possible utilization types foreseen in the regulation will not help offset the costs of bringing former discards to land. The outcomes of this study have confirmed the implementation difficulties of the landing obligation, especially when the fishing industry cannot expect any medium to long-term benefits., This research has received funding from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 634495 for the project Science, Technology, and Society Initiative to minimize Unwanted Catches in European Fisheries (MINOUW).

The debate concerning the biblical intertexts of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has revolved around the question of the Bible’s role in the latter: as a tool for suppression and as a potential tool for subversion. The present article re-opens this crucial debate, shifting its focus and contributing to it in two interrelated ways. Whilst the explicit link between the theocracy of Atwood’s Gilead and its totalitarianism has been elaborated on, a specific analogy between Gilead and Nazi Germany drawn in the text remains underexplored in terms of its correlation with the novel’s biblical intertexts. This essay engages with the Gilead-Nazi Germany analogy in these terms, focusing – and this is its second contribution – on the novel’s intertextual entanglement with the story of the sacrificial lamb of the Passover, which still remains unexamined today, in 2015, the year that marks the thirtieth anniversary of the novel’s publication. Both the Passover sacrifice and Atwood’s novel, I will argue, present us with a figurative self-consumption that points to a politics of ‘auto-cannibalism’, which illuminates the parallel between Gilead and Nazi Germany whilst fleshing out its implications on Atwood’s treatment of the tripartite association between politics, sacrifice, and eating.

This essay provides an overview of seminal examples of Western thought (including the Bible, Plato, Hegel, Nietzsche, Freud and Heidegger) in which food features as a means to the conceptual differentiation of the human from the animal. Such an approach allows the emergence of a “structure” (in the Deleuzian sense) that seems to underlie the production of these distinctions. It is, paradoxically, human and animal mutuality – as this is manifested in their common need for, and consumption of, food – that has been utilised as their “differentiator” in the Western tradition and it is this, I argue, that renders possible the functions of what Agamben calls the “anthropological machine.”

Summary Background Increased prevalence of psychological morbidities, including anxiety, depression and eating disorders, has been reported in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in comparison with normal ovulating, nonhyperandrogenemic women. Aim of the study To investigate the relationship between the degree of anxiety, depression and eating disorders via self-reported symptoms and the severity of hormonal and metabolic aberrations in women with PCOS. For this purpose, the PCOS cohort was subdivided into three subgroups according to the degree of anxiety. Methods One hundred and thirty women with PCOS of similar age and BMI were studied. In each subject, hormonal and metabolic status as well as psychological profile was assessed with the use of specific questionnaires. Specifically, anxiety (trait and state) was assessed with the use of STAI-T and STAI-S, while depression and eating disorders were evaluated with the use of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Eating Attitudes test, respectively. Results The subgroups did not differ in age and BMI. Subjects with the highest STAI-S compared with those with the lowest STAI-S displayed significantly higher the homeostasis assessment model-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and free androgen index values (P

Background PCOS is presented by a broad spectrum of menstrual irregularities appearing often at puberty or later on during the reproductive years in women suffering from this multifaceted syndrome. To our knowledge, there is no evidence to suggest whether the time of onset of menstrual irregularities (peri or post pubertal) indicates a differential metabolic and/or hormonal profile as well as ovarian ultrasonographic findings, in adulthood in women with PCOS. Aim of the study To compare anthropometric, hormonal-metabolic profile and ultrasound findings in PCOS women with peripubertal onset of menstrual disorders with the corresponding data obtained from PCOS patients with post pubertal onset of menstrual irregularities, matched for BMI and age. Patients-methods 89 PCOS women were evaluated cross-sectionally at the age of 25 years. In 49 subjects menstrual irregularities were present from menarche, whereas in 40 women the irregularities appeared at least 3 years post menarche. Results Anthropometric parameters were comparable between the 2 groups. The 2 groups did not differ on metabolic and hormonal profile as well as ovarian ultrasound findings. Conclusions These data indicate that the timing of menstrual irregularities, do not appear to have an impact, on hormonal/metabolic profile and ovarian ultrasound morphology in patients diagnosed with PCOS, later in life.