A Cross-sectional Study on the Proportion of Anxiety and Depression and Determinants of Quality of Life in Polycystic Ovarian Disease

BACKGROUND: The polycystic ovary syndrome is a disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphologic features. Earlier studies have shown that depression was significantly increased in the polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) group and also that PCOD women had marked reduction in quality of life, impaired emotional well-being, and reduced sexual satisfaction. This study was undertaken with the objectives of studying the proportion of anxiety and depression and assessing the quality of life and its correlates in women with PCOD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study on 64 PCOD patients using a pro forma for collecting sociodemographic and clinical details, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, Ferriman–Gallewey score for hirsutism and WHO-quality of life (QOL) BREF. RESULTS: Depression was seen in 93.5% of the subjects and anxiety in 100% of the subjects. The patients were also seen to have a lower quality of life. Lower scores were obtained in the psychological domain (68.80 ± 12.87). Presence and severity of depression and anxiety were found to have a negative correlation with QOL in all domains but maximally affecting the social relationships domain (P ≤ 0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Severity of hirsutism and nulliparity was found to have association with QOL in the psychological domain. CONCLUSION: The majority of women with PCOD in this study were found to have depression and anxiety. They were also seen to have a lower quality of life. Depression, anxiety, and hirsutism were found to have a negative correlation with QOL in all domains.