Concerns about fertility, social appearance, and relationships in young adults with polycystic ovary syndrome

ABSTRACT

Background

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), affecting 1–11% of reproductive-age women, is characterised by many symptoms that cause important concerns especially in young adults.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the concerns about fertility, social appearance, and relationships in young adults with PCOS.

Methodology

This descriptive study included 140 young female adults aged 18–26, who were diagnosed with PCOS, agreed to participate in the onlineresearch through social media between July and December 2022 in Turkey. Data were collected using the ’Participant Interview Form’ and the ”Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS).

Results

The mean age of the participants was 22.1 ± 2.1. As the most common symptoms, 78.6% experienced menstrual irregularities, 16.4% were overweight, 7.1% were obese, 67.1% had hirsutism and 65.7% had acne. Most of the participants expressed concerns about future infertility (72.9%), and worried about being unable to conceive due to PCOS in the future (sometimes = 61.4%). Over eighty percent of the participants expressed some level of dissatisfaction with their physical appearance. They commonly believe that their self-esteem, emotionalstate, social relationships and partner relationships could be negatively affected by PCOS. SAAS scores were significantly increased by low income, high BMI, hirsutism, dissatisfaction with physicalappearance, low self-esteem, emotional problems and concerns related to social and partner relationships (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Young adults have common concerns about the potential negative impacts of PCOS on fertility, social appearance, and relationships. Health professionals should be aware of their counselling needs about the possible physical and psycho-social effects of PCOS and provide continuous care and support.

KEYWORDS:

• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• infertility
• pregnancy
• midwife
• nurse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

ES: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. İGS: Conceptualisation, Formal Analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.