Relative risks associated with Women’s Quality of life suffering from Metabolic, Reproductive and Psychological complications of PCOS: a comparative cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial endocrine disorder in young women. Physical appearance, menstrual irregularities, and infertility are viewed as the sole causes of mental distress that affects quality of life. Methods: It was a comprehensive cross-sectional study that targeted women of reproductive age who visited the Abbasi Shaheed hospital's gynecology, obstetrics, and endocrinology departments in Karachi, Pakistan; aimed to compare health hazards associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and how they affect patients' quality of life (QOL) in Karachi, Pakistan. According to inclusion criteria; around 450 patients were included. PCOS patients' quality of life was assessed using the Short Form-12 questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics was applied on collected data; Pearson’s chi square test with a p-value of <0.05 indicating statistically significance was used to determine the association among various risk factor with PCOS along with QOL. Results: All patients showed the main indications of PCOS, like obesity (n = 360, 80%), acne (n = 268. 59.55%), hirsutism (n = 279, 62%), and irregular menstruation (n = 324, 72%). 274 (60.88%) patients had multiple cysts of >10 mm in diameter as per sonographic results. It was also found that Patients with PCOS showed a high occurrence of health hazards including hypertension (n = 98, 21.77%), diabetes mellitus (n =123, 27.33%), sleep apnea (n = 252, (56%), infertility (n = 135, (30%), high cholesterol level (n = 82, 18.22%) and hyperandrogenism (n = 279, 62%); this lead us to further investigate the relative risks associated with PCOS and a comparative study between 50 PCOS and Non-PCOS women was carried out. The majority of patients had low QOL scores (n = 370, or 82.21 percent), with depression being the leading cause. It was noticed that PCOs patients with diabetes, hypertension, lipid imbalance and most of all obese are more inclined to develop health related risk from these disorders; additionally, this risk is doubled for patients having poor self-esteem (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: It was found that depression, and poor self-esteem as a result of metabolic and reproductive complication are interrelated with low QOL in PCOS patients; emphasizing on the need of revising the management strategies and psychological health valuation of women with PCOS.