Age-related differences in the reproductive and metabolic implications of polycystic ovarian syndrome: findings in an obese, United States population

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore age-related differences in the reproductive and metabolic manifestations of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Using a prospective cross-sectional design, we compared metabolic and reproductive findings in women attending a multidisciplinary clinic for PCOS, stratified across the following age groups: 18–25 (n = 71), 26–35 (n = 129), and 36–45 (n = 29). The study included primarily overweight and obese women, with a mean BMI of 31.1 in the entire study group. Older women had a decreased prevalence of biochemical hyperandrogenemia (p-trend: 0.0005). Of women meeting diagnostic criteria for PCOS, older women (n = 15) had larger median waist circumference and higher median diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and fasting glucose compared to younger women (p-trend: 0.03, 0.01, 0.01, 0.01 and 0.06, respectively). The odds of metabolic syndrome for women ages 36–45 are increased four-fold relative to the younger groups (OR: 4.01; 95% CI: 1.04–15.4; p = 0.04). We conclude that there are significant age-related differences in both the clinical presentation and metabolic manifestations of PCOS.

Keywords::

• Aging
• cardiovascular risk
• polycystic ovarian syndrome
• PCOS

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. Presented in part at the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Atlanta, GA, October 21, 2009.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.