Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by phenotypic heterogeneity and a wide variety of consequences. About half of PCOS women are overweight or obese and their obesity may be a contributing factor to PCOS pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate if PCOS alone affects the patients’ quality of life and to what extent obesity contributes to worsen this disease.

Methods and results: In total, 200 women with PCOS, 100 with BMI >25 and 100 with BMI <25 were recruited. They were evaluated with the 36-items short-form health survey (SF-36) and the polycystic ovary syndrome questionnaire (PCOQ20) and were compared with a healthy control group of 80 women, adequately matched.

The univariable analysis evidenced that PCOS patients, compared with controls, had decreased scores, indicating lower HRQoL, in all domains, excluding Bodily pain and Social role functioning; the most significant differences (P<0.001) between PCOS and control patients with BMI ≥25 were evidenced for emotional role functioning and summary mental health (SF-36), weight and acne (PCOQ20).

Multivariable regression analysis evidences that in subjects with BMI ≥25, high values of BMI itself predict the possibility of being affect by PCOS; low scores in physical functioning, Physical role functioning, vitality, emotional role functioning and Mental health were identified as multivariate predictors of PCOS.

Therefore, PCOS determines a relevant impairment of psycho-social functions in women; moreover, higher is the BMI, worse is the score of mental and emotional domains.

Conclusions: PCOS itself is a great cause of psychological morbidity and contributes to an overall diminished HRQoL; overweight-obesity, when present, considerably concurs to worsen it. PCOQ20 is a very sensitive test to evaluate HRQoL in PCOS patients.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.