Prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome among women presenting with amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea at the kenyatta national hospital

Abstract

Background: polycystic ovary syndome is the commonest endocrinological condition associated with anovulatory infertility in women of reproductive age. It is also associated with morbidities like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and endometrial carcinoma. Lowered quality of life from mood changes, low sexual satisfaction, increase in weight, acne on the skin and hair loss have also been reported. Majority of pcos patients have ovarian dysfunction, with 70%-80% of women with pcos presenting with menstrual irregularities (oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea) which forms the basis for this study. Objectives: to determine the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome among women presenting with amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea at the kenyatta national hospital. Methodology: this was a descriptive cross sectional study. The study population comprised of 131 patients recruited at kenyatta national hospital gynecology department. Those enrolled, gave an informed consent, filled a questionnaire, had their anthropometric measurements taken, then underwent a pelvic ultrasound scan and a blood sample for serum free testosterone levels was taken. Pcos was determined using the rotterdam criteria, therefore the participants whose results reflected the presence of 2 out of the 3 criteria were considered to have pcos. Results: a total of 49 (37.4%) was diagnosed with pcos using the rotterdam criteria in this study. Their mean age was 25.9+/-3.8, mean bmi of 25.9+/-5.6 and twenty one women (42.9%) of those with pcos had testosterone levels higher than the upper limit of normal. Conclusion: prevalence of pcos in special populations like among women with amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea is higher than that of the general population. Polycystic ovary syndrome should rank highly in the differential diagnosis when evaluating a woman with oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea as evidenced by the high prevalence.