Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, particularly mood disorders, research confirms.

Writing in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry, Andre Barciela Veras and colleagues from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil explain that “endocrinopathies and psychiatric disorders, especially mood disorders, seem to be interconnected.”

They add: “It has been found that patients with bipolar mood disorder present an increase in the prevalence of menstrual abnormalities, and that among women with PCOS, the prevalence of depression can reach 50%.”

To investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among women with PCOS in Brazil, the researchers studied 72 women, aged an average of 26 years, who were receiving treatment for the endocrine disorder.

All of the participants evaluated for DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) version 4.4. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and previous psychiatric treatments were also obtained from the participants’ medical records.

The researchers found that 56.9% of the women met criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder. Of these, 78% met criteria for a mood disorder.

The most common psychiatric disorder among the participants was major depression (26.4%), followed by bipolar disorder types I and II (11.1%), generalized anxiety disorder (9.7%), dysthymia (4.2%), and social phobia (4.2%).

“The results showed a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders among participants with PCOS. Mood disorders represented… 26.4% of the identified mental disorders in the whole sample,” Veras and team comment.

They add that the results also showed a greater prevalence than expected for bipolar disorder types I and II.

The findings “emphasize the importance of conducting research with the objective of elucidating the relationship between PCOS, peripheral resistance to insulin, and mood disorders,” they conclude.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

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