Anxiety and depression in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome and Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and those with the rare Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS), compared with healthy adolescents.

Material and methods. The participants were 49 adolescent girls, of whom 27 were patients with confirmed menstrual disorder, 22 with PCOS and 5 with MRKHS; and 22 were healthy eumenorrheic adolescents (control group) matched by age and school grade. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Gr) were used to measure depression and anxiety, respectively.

Results. The results showed that it was 1.08 times more likely for the PCOS group (p = 0.043) and 1.12 times more likely for the MRKHS group (p = 0.039) to have higher scores than healthy adolescents on the anxiety scale. The MRKHS group was 1.40 times more likely to have a higher number of depressive symptoms (p = 0.040) than the control group.

Conclusions. These findings, although based on a small sample, suggest a relationship between PCOS and MRKHS and the presence of psychological problems, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescents. This study is among the first to examine psychological difficulties in adolescents with such a rare menstrual syndrome as MRKHS.

Keywords:

• PCOS
• MRKHS
• anxiety
• depression
• psychopathology
• menstrual disorders