Psychological Signs in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

PCOS is a multifaceted disorder with multiple potential risk factors (e.g. infertility, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome). PCOS affects quality of life and can worsen anxiety and depression either due to the features of PCOS or due to the diagnosis of a chronic disease. This study aimed to determine the risk factors of PCOS in a group of patients. In this descriptive-analytic study, 81 patients with PCOS were studied in Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran, Iran. A questionnaire with items related to stress information was used for data collection. Stress symptoms were assessed using the Understanding Yourself standard questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 13.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, ILL, USA). Data are presented as mean ± SD or as frequency with percentages. P-value less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. The evaluation of psychological signs in 81 PCO patients and descriptive results showed that 8 (9.9%) had not any stress problem, 32 (39.5%) had neurotic stress, 29 (35.8%) had high level and 12 (14.8%) had extremely high level of stress. The age range of 26 years and more (P=0.023), touchy personality (P = 0.028) and acne (P = 0.015) related with high stress level. The odds of high level of anxiety in women with hirsutism was 3.1 (95%CI 1.00 to 9.59). The odds of high level of obsession in overweight patients was 3.2 (95%CI 1.12 to 9.234). The odds of high level of worrisome in patients with touchy personality was 3.4 (95%CI 1.10 to 11.19). Obsession score had a correlation with illness duration (r = -0.268, P = 0.038). These data showed that clinical signs of PCOS are the most closely associated with psychological distress and this has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders.