Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Women with PCOS experience higher rates of depression and anxiety. There is a paucity of research relating to perinatal mental health in women with PCOS, as well as a lack of evidence-based guidelines for assessment and management of mental disorders specific to pregnant women with PCOS. Limited available evidence suggests PCOS is associated with a higher prevalence of perinatal mental health disorders. However, perinatal guidelines currently do not recognise PCOS as a risk factor for perinatal mental health disorders. International evidence based PCOS guidelines have highlighted the lack of research in this area. We aimed to prospectively assess mental health in pregnant women with PCOS.

Methods: Consenting pregnant women, with and without PCOS, were invited to participate. Standardised validated questionnaires were carried out including Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

Results: To date, 107 women have been invited to participate. 64 responses include 43 with PCOS and 21 without PCOS. Interim analysis shows 47% of women with PCOS had a mental health diagnosis prior to pregnancy compared to 21% of women without PCOS. Pregnant women with PCOS had higher median anxiety scores (6, IQR 2-12) and depression scores (5, IQR 3-9) than women without PCOS (GAD7- 4, IQR 1-7, PHQ9- 3, IQR 1-8). Women with PCOS were more likely to experience moderate/severe anxiety (PCOS 35%, control 14%) and depression symptoms than women with PCOS (PCOS 21%, control 14%). Women with PCOS had higher median depression scores with EPDS (10, IQR 4-14) than women without PCOS (5, IQR 3-7, P=0.02).

Discussion: This study aims to assess prevalence of mental health disorders and highlight the need to screen for common perinatal mental disorders in women with PCOS. Interim analysis suggests higher prevalence of perinatal depression and anxiety in women with PCOS.