A study presented at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, showed that PCOS affects 7% to 10% of women and is the most common cause of infertility. PCOS is also linked to metabolic health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular health, and mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety.

Dr. Punith Kempegowda, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Acute Medicine at the Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham in Birmingham, U.K, and his team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies on body image concerns published as of July 2022.

For their review, the researchers identified nine relevant studies, with a sample size of 918 women with PCOS and 865 without PCOS. Furthermore, they conducted a meta-analysis of three studies using the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire Appearance Scales (MBSRQ-AS). 

The findings of this study showed that women living with PCOS reported feeling worse on appearance evaluation and appearance orientation compared to those without PCOS. They also observed that women with PCOS had significantly greater overweight preoccupation, lower body area satisfaction, and higher self-classified body weight on MBSRQ-AS subscales in those with PCOS compared to those without the condition.

According to a meta-analysis of two studies that used the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), women with PCOS had lower weight satisfaction scores than those without PCOS. 

(Source:https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2023/endo-2023-press-kempegowda )