An epidemiological survey: Effect of predisposing factors for PCOS in Indian urban and rural population

Abstract Study objective Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common multifaceted disorder found among females of the reproductive age presenting major clinical conditions of hirsutism, oligomenorrhea and infertility. Socioeconomic studies from India have observed PCOS as a lifestyle disorder highly prevalent among middle and high income urban population as compared to rural population. A large ethnographic study that identifies the prevalence of PCOS among different socioeconomic groups would be greatly helpful to reiterate women about lifestyle modifications. Design Cross – sectional survey study. Setting Random from the general population. Materials and methods A survey was taken up by 502 young women (between 18 and 24 years) from Chennai and collectively 566 girls from Thiruvallur and Dindugal districts to represent urban and rural population respectively. The responses were entered into an excel workbook and were analyzed statistically for correlation of influencing parameters and manifestation of the disorder. Main outcome measures From our survey, we have identified a PCOS prevalence rate of 6% in south India, according to the Rotterdam criteria. We have observed that the odds of urban women prone to acquiring PCOS are 0.1 times higher than women in rural India. Major conclusions Family history was found to have a strong association in incidence and manifestation of the disorder. Stress was found to set off the symptoms pertaining to PCOS. We also noticed that the awareness, among the rural population especially, was very minimum and thus they were not oblivious of diagnosis.