Risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: population based cohort study

Objective To study the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, taking into account maternal characteristics and assisted reproductive technology. Design Population based cohort study. Setting Singleton births registered in the Swedish medical birth register between 1995 and 2007. Participants By linkage with the Swedish patient register, 3787 births among women with a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome and 1 191 336 births among women without such a diagnosis. Main outcome measures Risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, stillbirth, neonatal death, low Apgar score (<7 at five minutes), meconium aspiration, large for gestational age, macrosomia, small for gestational age), adjusted for maternal characteristics (body mass index, age), socioeconomic factors (educational level, and cohabitating with infant’s father), and assisted reproductive technology. Results Women with polycystic ovary syndrome were more often obese and more commonly used assisted reproductive technology than women without such a diagnosis (60.6% v 34.8% and 13.7% v 1.5%). Polycystic ovary syndrome was strongly associated with pre-eclampsia (adjusted odds ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.24 to 1.69) and very preterm birth (2.21, 1.69 to 2.90) and the risk of gestational diabetes was more than doubled (2.32, 1.88 to 2.88). Infants born to mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome were more prone to be large for gestational age (1.39, 1.19 to 1.62) and were at increased risk of meconium aspiration (2.02, 1.13 to 3.61) and having a low Apgar score (<7) at five minutes (1.41, 1.09 to 1.83). Conclusions Women with polycystic ovary syndrome are at increased risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes that cannot be explained by assisted reproductive technology. These women may need increased surveillance during pregnancy and parturition.