RESUMO
Group differences in symptomatology and symptom perception of young women ageing between 18 and 32 years suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) were tested according to cultural background and weight status. In detail 31 Austrian women, living in Carinthia, Austria, and 102 Brazilian women, living in São Paulo, Brazil, were enrolled in the present study. All participants suffered from diagnosed PCOS. The prevalence of hirsutism, infertility, menstrual disturbances and overweight/obesity and their individual impact on health related quality of life were analysed. Furthermore the impact of weight status (BMI) on symptom perception was tested. It turned out, that the Brazilian sample exhibited higher prevalence of PCOS symptoms and these symptoms had a more negative impact on quality of life. The only exception was body weight. Although significantly leaner, the Austrian women showed a higher Cronin score of body weight than their Brazilian counterparts. The results of the present study may indicate that in western industrialized societies the fear of overweight is much more prevalent than in a developing country such as Brazil and thus it has more influence on the quality of life than all the other symptoms.
Assuntos
Índice de Massa Corporal , Transtornos Fóbicos/epidemiologia , Transtornos Fóbicos/psicologia , Síndrome do Ovário Policístico/epidemiologia , Síndrome do Ovário Policístico/psicologia , Qualidade de Vida/psicologia , Autoimagem , Adolescente , Adulto , Áustria/epidemiologia , Brasil/epidemiologia , Comorbidade , Feminino , Hirsutismo/epidemiologia , Humanos , Obesidade/epidemiologia , Transtornos Fóbicos/etnologia , Síndrome do Ovário Policístico/etnologia , PrevalênciaRESUMO
PCOS, the leading cause of anovulatory infertility that affects up to one fifth of the female population, is a complex chronic disease of genetic as well as environmental determination, but still unclear etiology. Besides of infertility, PCOS leads to menstrual dysfunctions, hirsutism and obesity--symptoms that are known to cause profound psychosocial distress. The present paper review the problematic of etiology and symptom expression of PCOS, which is not only a disease needing medical treatment but also a psychosocial problem for the affected women. PCOS may not only coinduced by psychosocial factors, the main symptoms of PCOS such as infertility, menstrual dysfunctions, hirsutism and obesity cause by themselves increased psychosocial stress.