Fertility Quality of Life among Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinological disorder that affects 15 to 20% of women of childbearing age worldwide. PCOS is characterized by a high level of insulin resistance which leads to dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, leading to anovulation and menstrual irregularity [2- 6]. PCOS is the most widely recognized reason for ovulatory infertility. About 90% to 95% of women on ovulation visiting infertility clinics suffer from PCOS. According to previous psychosocial studies, it is known that infertility and its treatment could lead to emotional and psychological stress [8-9] and thus threaten the quality of life (QoL) of infertile women. However, emotional distress has been considered a contributing factor to infertility [10]. Because of the intertwined relationship between infertility and quality of life, the integration of quality of life assessment into clinical practice for infertility problems should become a standard of care for infertile women. In the past, various generic measurement tools have been used to assess the quality of life in infertile patients. Recently, a condition-specific quality of life measurement tool, specifically designed for infertile couples, has been developed and used internationally: the Quality of Life in Fertility Questionnaire (FertiQoL). This tool has been shown to have good psychometric properties and its usefulness has been validated in a Dutch study comparing the FertiQoL tool to generic quality of life measurement instruments. We studied 86 consecutive patients in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the effectiveness of cinnamon supplement for the treatment of PCOS. To our knowledge, no data has been published regarding the quality of life in fertility of women with PCOS in Saudi Arabia. Our aim of this study is to understand the level of quality of life in sterile PCOS women in Saudi Arabia and to serve as a reference for clinical quality of life counseling and future studies.

Author(s): Alzhrani W, Alraddadi R, Aboualola H

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