Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) among young adult women: an anthropological insight

Abstract

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders which affect women in a significant manner worldwide. India has witnessed an about 30% rise in PCOS cases in the last couple of years. PCOS has a strong association with many comorbidities with its long-term metabolic as well as other consequences. Thus, it has recently been recognized as a significant public health issue. This review paper is an attempt to reveal the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge and awareness of PCOS among the adolescents and young adult women of India. An extensive search was performed using electronic search engines such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar (from 2004 to 2023) to find the relevant research papers on the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge, and awareness of PCOS among the adolescents and young adult women of India. The current review summarises and highlights the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge, and awareness of PCOS for early identification and prevention and consequent minimation of the steady upward trend of PCOS. The results of this review could identify high-risk populations and foster the implementation of preventive lifestyle measures. It also investigates the need for intervention programmes for PCOS and its associated comorbidities in different settings at an earlier stage and to improve the quality of health.