LabNorms Population Percentiles

NHANES 2017-2020 Sex Hormones

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-March 2020 Pre-Pandemic Sex Steroid Hormone Panel (2020)

URL: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/Nchs/Data/Nhanes/Public/2017/DataFiles/P_TST.htm

Population

US civilian non-institutionalized population, sex steroid hormone subsample

Study Type

Cross-sectional nationally representative survey

About This Dataset

The sex steroid hormone panel (P_TST) measured serum hormones including estradiol, SHBG, FSH, LH, progesterone, and androstenedione in NHANES 2017-March 2020. These were measured on a hormone subsample rather than the full MEC sample, so they use a dedicated subsample weight (WTTSTPP) rather than the standard MEC weight. Values below the assay's lower limit of detection were imputed by NHANES as the detection limit divided by the square root of 2; for FSH, values below 0.30 mIU/mL were recoded as below detection and imputed at 0.30 divided by the square root of 2.

Limitations

  • US population only (distributions may differ in other countries)
  • Cross-sectional design cannot establish causal relationships
  • Hormone subsample yields smaller per-slice n than full MEC analytes
  • Female estradiol, progesterone, FSH, and LH vary by menstrual cycle phase and menopausal status, producing wide population distributions
  • Values below the assay detection limit are NHANES-imputed (lower limit of detection divided by the square root of 2), which can affect the lower tail of low-concentration groups

Used for

Panels

Demographic Slices