Incidence, Awareness and Association of Lifestyle Modification with Symptoms of Polycystic Ovaries (PCOs)

Abstract

Objective: To determine incidence, awareness and association of Lifestyle modalities with symptoms of Polycystic Ovaries (PCOS) among females of two institutes Study design and setting: It was a Pilot study based survey at University of Karachi and Bahria University, Pakistan. Methodology: Following ethical approval, structured questionnaire was designed, validated and distributed as per convenient sampling. Results: SPSS analysis for 196 responses revealed that 4.6% were PCOS afflicted while 26% of non-PCOS were vulnerable cases on account of suffering any two of the three criterion symptoms of PCOS namely: menstrual irregularities, hirsutism and acne. Chi-square based cross tabulations revealed that PCOS females were predominantly between 21-25 years and were lean singles who exhibited a tendency to exercise, consumed poultry, slept late at night and used plastics by large in daily routine. Females susceptible to PCOS significantly exhibited the criterion symptoms when associated to consumption of poultry chicken, passive smoking and plastic usage on regular basis. Significantly larger proportion (70%) of non-PCOS females were aware about this disease but symptomatic, diagnostic and treatment based knowledge was significantly less prevalent. A significant percentage of females (61.5%) associated PCOS to the occurrence of infertility. Conclusion: Thus, concluding that imparting awareness about etiological factors, symptomatology and lifestyle triggers can enable females to ensure self-check and curb the chances of being prone to PCOS by avoiding plastics and smoking environment and incorporating weight management in their lifestyle