Relationship of Circulating Progesterone and Testosterone with BMI in Adult Females of Rajshahi City

Abstract

Background: Nutritional status is an indicator of nutrient intake and use. Malnutrition occurs due to disruption of this balance and it has a variety of effects on the physiology of serum progesterone and testosterone levels in women.  Methods: This cross-sectional type of descriptive study was carried out in the Department of Physiology in Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi over a period of 1 year from July 2021 to June 2022 on 18-40 years 150 adult females in Rajshahi city. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and purposive sampling technique was used. Data processing and analysis were done via Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 24.0 and the statistical significance was evaluated as appropriate probability level p < 0.05 for all tests. Results: Out of 150 respondents, BMI wise distribution of the serum progesterone levels revealed that 75.00%, 84.60%, 95.00% & 92.70% of the women had high level and 25.00%, 15.40%, 5.00% & 7.30% had normal level in underweight, normal weight, overweight & obese group, respectively. Serum testosterone level revealed that 75.00%, 84.60%, 85.00% & 82.30% of the women had normal level, 0%, 11.50%, 15.00% & 9.40% had low level and 25.00%, 3.80%, 0% & 8.30% had high level of testosterone in underweight, normal weight, overweight & obese group, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference of serum progesterone and testosterone level among the four groups of nutritional status (p=0.12, p=0.15, respectively). Conclusions: Though hormonal status was found statistically non-significant, adult women should be aware of nutritional status to prevent future hormone related complications.