Research presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago heard that mortality is about 50 per cent higher among people with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) than controls.

About 7 to 10 per cent of women of reproductive age live with PCOS, which increases the likelihood of infertility, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

Researchers matched 9,839 PCOS patients with 70,705 controls. Of the 177 women with PCOS and 1,003 controls who died during follow-up (which lasted from 1969 to 2019), PCOS patients passed away significantly younger than controls (51.4 and 52.9 years respectively).

After adjusting for confounders, overall death rates among PCOS patients were 47 per cent higher than among controls. Mortality from CVD and tumours were 67 and 38 per cent higher respectively. PCOS patients were two to four times more likely to die from diabetes (hazard ratio [HR] 3.07), other diseases of the circulatory system (HR 2.07) and bronchitis (HR 3.61) than controls.

“The results highlight the need for improving the care of diabetes, lung infections and cardiovascular diseases to prevent the excess mortality of women with PCOS,” says author Dr Terhi Piltonen, Oulu University Hospital, Finland. 

“PCOS is a severe lifelong syndrome that increases mortality. More resources should be targeted on the prevention of PCOS-related diseases.”