Abstract:
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a metabolic disorder caused by hormonal imbalance.
Investigating the prevalence of diabetes and the effects of anthropometric indices on the
development of diabetes is vital for the effective management, of women affected with PCOS.
Descriptive cross-sectional study with convenient sampling method was used to recruit 125
women who were diagnosed with PCOS based on the Rotterdam criteria when they visited
Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic for the first time. Data for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level
were gathered; weight, height, waist, and hip circumference were measured based on the World
Health Organization (WHO) STEPS protocol 52. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical
Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna. Descriptive analysis and chi square
test were performed to with SPSS version 25 to analyze the data. The mean FPG of the women
was 5.01 (±1.26) mmol/l. Prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes were 3.2% and 19.2%,
respectively. The mean BMI and waist-hip ratio (WHR) of PCOS women were 27.8 (±5.7) kg/m2
and 0.9 (±0.1). Among the prediabetics, 8.0% were obese (≥27.5 kg/m2), and 4.8% were
overweight (23.0–27.5 kg/m2) and among the diabetics, 2.4% were obese and none were
overweight. The mean BMI of diabetics and prediabetics were 29.5 (±4.7) and 26.2 (±6.0) kg/m2.
The mean WHR of diabetics and pre-diabetics were 0.9 (±0.6) and 0.9 (±0.1) respectively. Elevated
WHR were observed in 2.4% and 9.6% of diabetics and pre-diabetics respectively. No significant
relationships were observed between FPG and BMI, WHR. Even though there has been no
significant relationship between the anthropometric indices and FPG of PCOS, the higher
anthropometric measures of diabetes / prediabetes, suggested increased risk of women suffering
from PCOS becoming diabetic / prediabetic. Furthermore, significant prevalence of prediabetes
among women with PCOS, emphasized the importance of targeted prevention of developing
diabetes.
