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Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), also known as hyper androgenic anovulation (HA or Stein-Leventhal syndrome). It is a well-recognized and the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age (12-45 years old). It is affecting 5–10% of this population that offers no cure. It is a syndrome of ovarian dysfunction associated with hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovary morphology. The underlying etiology of PCOS is still unknown and PCOS remains a heterogeneous disorder that present differently in the affected women (Amiri et al., 2019). Women with polycystic ovary syndrome face serious complications if not resolved well. The symptoms typically associated with polycystic ovary syndrome such as acne, hirsutism, irregular menses, amenorrhoea, obesity and subfertility are a major source of psychological morbidity and can negatively affect quality of life (QOL). It may also influence the feminine identity of patients with PCOS. Indeed, the diagnosis of PCOS has been found to be associated with feelings of frustration and anxiety (Aliasghari et al., 2017). The nurses directly or indirectly play an important role in evaluating and improving the patients QOL throughout the PCOS. In addition to this, the nurses represent a broad range of care settings and diverse specialty areas including clinical practice, education, administration and research. So, the nurses are key providers of PCOS care. Hence, their respective on quality of life for polycystic ovary syndrome patients are very important (King and Hinds, 2015). The purpose of the present study was to assess quality of life among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. The present study was conducted at the outpatient clinics of gynecology and infertility of Menoufia University Hospital and Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital in Menoufia Governorate. A descriptive design was used to carry out the present study. A purposive sample of 140 woman participated in the study (75 women from Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital and 65 women from Menoufia University Hospital) who attended the outpatient clinics of gynecology and infertility. The inclusion criteria of the study participants were: 1) Women medically diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. 2) Women free from any other medical problems. 3) Women married at average reproductive age of 18-45 years old. Throughout the course of the present study, the data were collected using the following instruments:- I. A structured interviewing Questionnaire (Appendix I): This instrument was developed by the researcher to obtain complete data about the women. The instrument consisted of the following three parts and contained 14 questions as follows: Part 1: Socio-demographic data (questions1-4): It included age, marital status, educational level and occupation. Part II: Obstetric and gynecological history (questions 5-12): It included the menstrual history, obstetric and gynecological history in terms of number of previous pregnancies & labor, any previous pregnancy & labor complications,number of children, appearance of any symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome and duration of PCOS symptoms. Part III: Family history (questions 13-14): It included the data related to any cases diagnosed with PCOS in the family and any complications related to it. II. A modified health-related quality of life questionnaire for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOSQ) (Appendix II): It was adapted from Cronin et al., (1998) and Guyatt et al., (2004). It was modified by the researcher and translated to Arabic language and reviewed by a jury. The instrument evaluated the impact of the problems associated with PCOS upon the quality of life. This instrument consisted of 40 statements, every woman had three responses for each statement in which score (1) represents sever problem ”poorest function ”, score (2) represents some problem and score (3) represents no problem ”optimal function ”. Domains of health- related quality of life questionnaire grouped for women with PCOS (PCOSQ) into 3 domains (psychological, physiological, and social wellbeing). Approaches to ensuring ethics were considered in the study regarding confidentiality and informed consent. The researcher introduced herself to the study participants and explained the purpose of the study in order to obtain their acceptance to be recruited in the study as well as to gain their cooperation. Confidentiality was achieved by the use of closed sheets with the names of the participants replaced by numbers. All women were informed that the information they provided during the study would bekept confidential and used only for statistical purpose and after finishing the study, the findings were presented as a group data with no personal participant’s information remained. After explanation prior to enrollment in the study, informed consent was obtained from all women. Each woman was informed that participation in the study was voluntary, and that she could withdraw from the study whenever she decided to and each one was given the opportunity to freely refuse the participation. They were free to ask any question about the study details. Upon completion of data collection, each answer was coded and scored. The researcher coded the data into a coding sheet so that data could be prepared for computer use. Data was statistically analyzed using (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 22, SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA). The findings of this study succeeded in answering the research question that what is the quality of life among women with polycystic ovary syndrome? The findings of the present study showed that: More than half of the study participants (60.7%) experienced poor quality of life (psychological, physiological and social QOL domains). More than half of the study participants (55.7%) experienced poor psychological domain of QOL. Half of the study participants (50.0%) experienced poor physiological domain of QOL. Less than half of the study participants (43.6%) experienced poor social domain of QOL.There were no statistically significant differences between the women socio-demographic characteristics in terms of age, education, occupation & the total QOL domains (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the regularity of menstrual cycle, previous pregnancy complications & the total quality of life domains (P<0.05). Also, there was a highly statistically significant difference between gravidity, parity, number of living children & the total QOL domains (P=0.001). There were statistically significant differences between the previous delivery complications & the total quality of life domains (P=0.031). There were no statistically significant differences between the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome, duration of PCOS symptoms & the total quality of life domains (P<0.05). There was positive correlation between the total quality of life and gravidity, parity and number of living children (r<0.2) while, there was negative correlation between the total quality of life and the complications in the previous delivery(r=-0.209). Therefore, polycystic ovarian syndrome has a negative impact on women’s quality of life. Recommendations: Based on the findings of the present study, the following recommendations were suggested: - Improve the women‟s knowledge concerning PCOS toward stress management and lifestyle modifications. The need for a hospital basedsupport group as psychologists and consultants for women with PCOS to improve their psychological indexes such as quality of life. Further research should be recommended to further setting using a larger sample. |