Quality of life and marital sexual satisfaction in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects 5-10% of women in the developed world, making it the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age. The symptoms typically associated with polycystic ovary syndrome: amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, hirsutism, obesity, subfertility, anovulation and acne can lead to a significant reduction in female life quality.The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of polycystic ovary syndrome on quality of life and marital sexual satisfaction. Fifty women with polycystic ovary syndrome were qualified to the study as the research group. The control group consisted of fourty healthy women. A specific questionnaire was used as a research tool in this study. It included the socio-demographic part, polycystic ovary syndrome's symptomatology and validated scales: Polish version of Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS). The mean age of researched women was 28.9+/-5.6 years, and in the control group - 30.5+/-5.3 years (p>0.05). Quality of life parameters for women with polycystic ovary syndrome were lower than for the controls in the aspect of: general health (p<0.01), limitations due to physical health (p<0.05), limitations due to emotional problems (p<0.001), social functioning (p<0.01), energy/fatigue (p<0.001) and emotional wellbeing (p<0.01). Studied women showed worse marital sexual functioning (p<0.05). Marital sexual dysfunctions were diagnosed in 28.6% of women with polycystic ovary syndrome and in 10.5% of healthy women (p<0.05). Polycystic ovary syndrome decreases quality of life and marital sexual functioning among women. A negative effect of hirsutism severity on general well-being and marital sexual life is also observed.