A cross sectional survey on quality of life and psychiatric morbidity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multisystem disorder having a great impact on psychological and social functioning resulting in reduced Quality of life (QOL). Methodology: Women diagnosed with PCOS as per the Rotterdam criteria, in the age group of 18-40 without any history of psychiatric illness and recent stressful life events or trauma attending the OPD of Prasuti tantra evam Striroga of a tertiary care Ayurveda hospital were recruited for the study. A cross sectional study in 50 eligible women was carried out with World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), Symptom Checklist 90 R (SCL-90 R) to assess QOL and psychiatric morbidity respectively. As an important measure of QOL, sexual satisfaction was also measured with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: QOL was less than the mean value in 74% in the psychological domain and 68% in social domain and 62% each in physical and environmental domain indicating poorer QOL. On detailed psychological screening, mean scores of depression, obsessive- compulsive and anxiety domains were higher. Sexual satisfaction was moderate to high in married participants. Conclusion: Psychiatric morbidities are highly prevalent in PCOS women and they have reduced QOL. These psychiatric morbidities should be addressed for better outcome in PCOS management.