Background: While increased risk of psychiatric burden in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is reported in the literature, there is dearth of reports from Saudi Arabia on occurrence of psychological burden in women with PCOS. This study aimed to compare the sociodemographic and clinical features of PCOS cases with non-PCOS control and explore the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in PCOS and non-PCOS women.
Materials and methods: This is a case-control study carried out in PSMMC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 2019 to June 2019. Samples were recruited by convenience sampling and simple random method in PCOS cases (82) and control group (85), respectively. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to measure the presence of psychological burden.
Results: High percentage of participants were in an age group of 26-35 years (51%) and university educated (64%). Significantly (P = 0.001) high proportion of PCOS cases found with irregular menses, hirsutism, infertility and presence of acne (P = 0.001) when compared to control group. The odds of developing depression (P = 0.006), anxiety (P = 0.028) and stress (P = 0.000) was significantly higher in PCOS cases compared to control participants. Further, among the three parameters, the occurrence of stress (odds ratio, OR=10.45) in women with PCOS was more common than depression (OR=2.675) and anxiety (OR=2.056).
Limitations: Recall bias and inclusion of only one hospital.
Conclusion: In conclusion, most of the PCOS cases had stress, depression and anxiety compared to control group. Meeting the psychological need of the PCOS women will help in improving their quality of life.
Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Hirsutism; Infertility; Oligomenorrhea; Polycystic ovary syndrome; Stress.
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