EPIDEMIOLOGY OF POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME IN A RURAL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL- A SURVEY BASED RESEARCH

Abstract

Epidemiology of PCOS among female medical students and nursing staff was conducted in a rural medical college in Himachal Pradesh using a pretested self designed questionnaire. A data of 200 study population was collected and analyzed. After interpretation it was concluded that 98.98% of the study population was aware about PCOS.A prevalence of 29.50% was observed among the study population based on responses to the questionnaire. As PCOS is associated with BMI, higher calorie intake and low physical activity, similar findings were observed in our study.  Among the subjects with normal BMI, 86% have no complaints related to PCOS, while the remaining 14% have some complaints. Whereas the population with BMI categorized under pre-obesity (WHO) 62% have complaints and population with BMI categorized under obesity (WHO) 75% have complaints. Concerning the association with calorie intake, 27% of population with a surplus calorie intake (FDA criteria) has complaints. Coming to the physical activity (WHO), study  population with low physical activity(Sedentary) 62% have complaints/symptoms, whereas the percentages are significantly lower in population with moderate or strenuous physical activity. One more emerging and important parameter for diagnosis of PCOS is waist to hip ratio (WHR). WHR between 0.81-0.85 (Categorized under moderate risk by WHO) 30% of study population had complaints, WHR greater than or equal to0.86 (Categorized under high risk by WHO), 74.5%  of population have complaints related to PCOS. The high prevalence in this study must be attributed to lower physical activity and higher stress level.. There is an imbalance between the awareness about the disease which comes out to be 98.98% and the awareness about complications which comes out to be 52.5% even among the medical students and staff. So health camps and regular screening should be conducted in every hospital to prevent long term complications. This will facilitate in focusing on our young population and population in reproductive age group among our future healthcare professionals as, their knowledge and practices towards PCOS will have a major impact on the society.