Sleep Aberrations in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: An Observational Study of 38 Women

Introduction and Aim: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), one of the non-communicable diseases is reaching an epidemic proportion in India. Sleep insufficiency is known to contribute to obesity and the associated non-communicable diseases like type two diabetes mellitus, cardio-vascular diseases and cancer. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the sleep patterns in patients with PCOS.Material and Methods: Thirty-eight women with PCOS (diagnosed as per Rotterdam criteria) attending a specialty clinic in Mumbai were evaluated for their sleep patterns specifically for its duration, latency, fragmentation and alignment with diurnal rhythm.Results: The age group of the women varied from 17 to 40 years with a mean age of 25 yrs. Twenty-eight of 38 women were overweight (42.1%) and obese (31.6%). Hyperinsulinemia, (fasting and/or two hours post glucose) were observed in 14 (36.8%) patients. Majority of PCOS patients had sleep insufficiency (57.9% slept less than 7 hours a day); of these 12 women slept for 6 to 7 hours while 7 women slept for only 5 to 6 hours a day and 4 women slept less than 5 hours a day. Sleep latency was observed in 8 women and sleep fragmentation in 5 of them. Sleep misalignment with diurnal rhythm was observed in 14 patients.Conclusion: The present study reports high degree of sleep insufficiency among subjects with PCOS.Conflict of Interest: None declaredSource of funding: None declared