Women with PCOS are at 47% greater risk of death than their peers without the condition

The study, presented at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, Ill, found that women with PCOS have a 47% increased risk for mortality at younger ages versus those without the condition.

"The findings underscore the need for improving the care of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and lung infections to prevent the excess mortality of PCOS omen," said co-author Terhi Piltonen, M.D., PhD., of the University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital in Oulu, Finland.

In women, PCOS is a common cause of infertility that affects about 7% to 10% of women of reproductive age. People with PCOS may have higher levels of testosterone and other reproductive hormones called androgens, cysts on the ovaries, and irregular periods. The condition increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The researchers designed a register-based case-controlled study to challenge the e limited data within the literature on the mortality risk among PCOS patients. Women with PCOS were identified in the Finnish Care Register for Health Care using ICD codes.

The researchers matched the study's controls based on where they lived and their birth year. The researchers included the records of 9,839 women with PCOS and 70,705 controls for the study.

The authors reported the following findings:

• Of the studied population, 1,003 controls and 177 women with PCOS died during the follow-up period, spanning the years 1969-2019.
• In an additional analysis, the women with PCOS had an increased risk for death and a greater risk for death due to tumours and nutrition, endocrine, metabolic diseases and cardiovascular disease.
• Mortality was also increased among women with PCOS due to disease of the cardiovascular system and tumours.
• Circulatory system disease, diabetes and bronchitis increased mortality among women with PCOS.
• Women with PCOS had a 47 percent higher risk for overall mortality than control women. The mortality due to diseases of the cardiovascular system was increased by 67 percent, and mortality due to tumours by 38 percent compared to the control group.
• Women with PCOS also had triple the risk of death due to lung infection and diabetes.

"Our findings suggest women with PCOS died significantly younger than the controls," the researchers wrote.

"PCOS is a severe lifelong syndrome that raises mortality," the researchers concluded. "More resources should be targeted on the prevention of PCOS-related diseases."