Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

The study focused on the mental health of women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), finding that 50% of the participants suffered from psychiatric morbidity, with 38.6% experiencing anxiety and 25.7% experiencing depression. The research, which included 70 women aged 18-45 years diagnosed with PCOS, used the Hamilton scales for assessing anxiety and depression and the WHO-QOL-BREF for evaluating quality of life (QOL). It was found that specific PCOS symptoms, such as infertility and alopecia, were significantly associated with anxiety, while acne was linked to depression. Moreover, hirsutism was associated with a lower psychological QOL. Women with psychiatric morbidity had significantly lower QOL in physical, psychological, and social domains. The study suggests the necessity of ongoing screening for psychiatric morbidity in the management of PCOS to potentially improve symptom management and QOL. However, the study's limitations include its cross-sectional design and the possibility that the sample may not represent the general population.