Wednesday 4 April 2007
Women with PCOS prone to depressive disorders
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2007; Advance online publication
Estimating the prevalence of depressive disorders in women with and without PCOS.
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at increased risk of developing depressive disorders compared with other women, research shows.
Experts from the University of Iowa say that their data justifies routine screening for depression in women with PCOS.
The team led by Elizabeth Hollinrake asked 103 women with PCOS and an equal number of healthy control women to complete a "primary care evaluation of mental disorders patient health questionnaire".
Depressive disorders were defined using the Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV.
Women with PCOS had a 21 percent risk of developing new depressive disorders while female controls only had a 3 percent risk.
The overall risk of depressive disorders in women with PCOS stood at an adjusted odds ratio of 4.23, independent of body weight and fertility status.
It is argued that women with PCOS may suffer from lower self esteem, a more negative self-image, and higher levels of depression owing to their physical features of hyper-androgenism.
"Because the peak incidence of depression is during the reproductive years, gynecologists are front-line professionals in the effort to identify and treat women with PCOS who have depression," say the authors.
"We recommend that women with PCOS are a target population that should be routinely screened and adequately treated for depressive disorders."
Posted: 3 April 2007
© 2007 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media
http://www.orgyn.com/en/news/2007/We..._PCOS_pron.asp
Women with PCOS prone to depressive disorders 
