
, Bo Ram Yang3,4
, Min-Seon Kim5
, Jeong-Hwa Yoon6
, Se Hee Min5
1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea
2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
3College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea
4Department of Bio-AI Convergence, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea
5Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
6Medical Big Data Research Center, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Copyright © 2026 Korean Endocrine Society
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by the Basic Science Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (RS-2023-00241523) and Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea (RS-2024-00393728, RS-2024-00438349), and Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea (2023IP0101).
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Conception or design: S.H.M. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: B.R.Y., J.H.Y. Drafting the work or revising: H.N.J., M.S.K., S.H.M. Final approval of the manuscript: S. H.M.
| Characteristic | Controls (n=1,562) | Prolactinoma (n=335) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr | 34.6±10.5 | 35.5±11.3 | 0.202 |
| Age group, yr | |||
| <30 | 523 (33.5) | 107 (31.9) | 0.298 |
| 30–49 | 936 (59.9) | 198 (59.1) | |
| ≥50 | 103 (6.6) | 30 (9.0) | |
| Sex | |||
| Women | 1,391 (89.1) | 298 (89.0) | >0.999 |
| Men | 171 (10.9) | 37 (11.0) | |
| Income | 0.646 | ||
| 0a | 13 (0.9) | 7 (2.2) | |
| 1 | 131 (8.6) | 31 (9.7) | |
| 2 | 117 (7.7) | 27 (8.4) | |
| 3 | 132 (8.7) | 25 (7.8) | |
| 4 | 131 (8.6) | 24 (7.5) | |
| 5 | 153 (10.1) | 24 (7.5) | |
| 6 | 149 (9.8) | 32 (10.1) | |
| 7 | 165 (10.9) | 37 (11.6) | |
| 8 | 184 (12.1) | 36 (11.2) | |
| 9 | 165 (10.9) | 36 (11.2) | |
| 10 | 180 (11.8) | 41 (12.8) | |
| Unknown | 42 (2.7) | 15 (4.5) | |
| BMI, kg/m2b | 22.6±3.5 | 23.2±3.6 | 0.052 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Hypertension | 91 (5.8) | 38 (11.3) | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 152 (9.7) | 75 (22.4) | <0.001 |
| Treatment for prolactinoma | |||
| Treatment | - | 235 (70.1) | |
| Dopamine agonist, % | 87.5 | ||
| Surgery, % | 3.2 | ||
| Both, % | 9.2 | ||
| No treatment | - | 100 (29.9) | |
| No. of patients | No. of events (%) | RR (95% CI) | Unadjusted HR (95% CI) | P value | Adjusted HRa (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controls | 1,562 | 86 (5.5) | 1 (reference) | 0.001 | 1 (reference) | 0.046 | |
| Prolactinoma | 335 | 34 (10.1) | 1.84 (1.26–2.69) | 1.92 (1.29–2.86) | 1.56 (1.01–2.41) |
| Time, mo | Unadjusted HR (95% CI) | P value | Adjusted HRa (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤12 | 9.96 (3.86–25.60) | <0.001 | 9.28 (3.45–24.97) | <0.001 |
| >12 and ≤36 | 4.03 (2.01–7.83) | <0.001 | 3.15 (1.55–6.38) | 0.002 |
| >36 | 1.08 (0.62–1.87) | 0.791 | 0.82 (0.44–1.53) | 0.535 |
| Characteristic | Controls (n=1,562) | Prolactinoma (n=335) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr | 34.6±10.5 | 35.5±11.3 | 0.202 |
| Age group, yr | |||
| <30 | 523 (33.5) | 107 (31.9) | 0.298 |
| 30–49 | 936 (59.9) | 198 (59.1) | |
| ≥50 | 103 (6.6) | 30 (9.0) | |
| Sex | |||
| Women | 1,391 (89.1) | 298 (89.0) | >0.999 |
| Men | 171 (10.9) | 37 (11.0) | |
| Income | 0.646 | ||
| 0 |
13 (0.9) | 7 (2.2) | |
| 1 | 131 (8.6) | 31 (9.7) | |
| 2 | 117 (7.7) | 27 (8.4) | |
| 3 | 132 (8.7) | 25 (7.8) | |
| 4 | 131 (8.6) | 24 (7.5) | |
| 5 | 153 (10.1) | 24 (7.5) | |
| 6 | 149 (9.8) | 32 (10.1) | |
| 7 | 165 (10.9) | 37 (11.6) | |
| 8 | 184 (12.1) | 36 (11.2) | |
| 9 | 165 (10.9) | 36 (11.2) | |
| 10 | 180 (11.8) | 41 (12.8) | |
| Unknown | 42 (2.7) | 15 (4.5) | |
| BMI, kg/m2 |
22.6±3.5 | 23.2±3.6 | 0.052 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Hypertension | 91 (5.8) | 38 (11.3) | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 152 (9.7) | 75 (22.4) | <0.001 |
| Treatment for prolactinoma | |||
| Treatment | - | 235 (70.1) | |
| Dopamine agonist, % | 87.5 | ||
| Surgery, % | 3.2 | ||
| Both, % | 9.2 | ||
| No treatment | - | 100 (29.9) | |
| No. of patients | No. of events (%) | RR (95% CI) | Unadjusted HR (95% CI) | P value | Adjusted HR |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controls | 1,562 | 86 (5.5) | 1 (reference) | 0.001 | 1 (reference) | 0.046 | |
| Prolactinoma | 335 | 34 (10.1) | 1.84 (1.26–2.69) | 1.92 (1.29–2.86) | 1.56 (1.01–2.41) |
| Time, mo | Unadjusted HR (95% CI) | P value | Adjusted HR |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤12 | 9.96 (3.86–25.60) | <0.001 | 9.28 (3.45–24.97) | <0.001 |
| >12 and ≤36 | 4.03 (2.01–7.83) | <0.001 | 3.15 (1.55–6.38) | 0.002 |
| >36 | 1.08 (0.62–1.87) | 0.791 | 0.82 (0.44–1.53) | 0.535 |
Values are expressed as mean±standard deviation or number (%). BMI, body mass index. Population with the lowest level of income; BMI data were available for 745 (47.7%) of the controls and 172 (51.3%) of the patients with prolactinoma.
RR, relative risk; CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio. Adjusted for age, sex, income, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval. Adjusted for age, sex, income, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.