‘The thief of womanhood’: women's experience of polycystic ovarian syndrome

Kitzinger, Celia; Willmott, Jo

doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(01)00034-x

Cited by 310 publications

(297 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These results are consistent with previous data documenting the lack of a relationship between extent of hirsutism and degree of psychological distress (20, 33 -35). Together, these data support that hirsutism does indeed affect women with PCOS, but this appears to be limited to specific areas of quality-oflife, including the sexual domains, possibly linked with problems concerning female identity and sexual selfworth (7,8,13,20).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Although the notion that PCOS patients feel stigmatized appears reasonable, the concept of a loss of 'feminine identity' in PCOS is as such difficult to assess using standardized measures (8). Nevertheless, in our set of measures, this concept may be represented as a combination of sexual selfworth and self-esteem, measured by the VAS scales, which proved sensitive to changes in outer appearance, particularly obesity and excessive body hair.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Clinical and psychological correlates of quality-of-life in polycystic ovary syndrome

et al. 2005

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Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been shown to cause a reduction in quality of life. This study examines the extent of different PCOS symptoms on quality-of-life, psychosocial wellbeing and sexual satisfaction. Methods: Complete metabolic, hormonal, clinical and psychosocial data were obtained from a total of 120 women with PCOS. Patients were compared with 50 healthy women to establish reductions in quality-of-life and emotional well-being. In addition, the correlation between psychosocial variables and the major clinical PCOS features obesity (body mass index (BMI)), excessive body hair (hirsutism score), acne, hyperandrogenism (serum testosterone levels), disturbed insulin regulation (area under the insulin response curve and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), menstrual cycle disturbances and infertility were analyzed. Results: PCOS patients showed significant reductions in quality-of-life, increased psychological disturbances, and decreased sexual satisfaction when compared with healthy controls. BMI and hirsutism scores, but not the presence of acne, were associated with physical aspects of quality-of-life and sexual satisfaction. No clear effect of androgens or insulin resistance on psychosocial variables was detected. Similarly, the type of menstrual cycle disturbances or infertility had no impact on psychological well-being. Conclusion: In PCOS, changes in appearance, particularly obesity and hirsutism, reduce physical dimensions of quality-of-life and decrease sexual satisfaction. The role of biochemical, endocrine and metabolic parameters as well as menstrual irregularities and infertility appeared to be less important. Clinicians should pay attention to the psychosocial dimensions of PCOS on an individual basis, regardless of symptom severity or treatment response. 153 853-860 European Journal of Endocrinology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Clinical and psychological correlates of quality-of-life in polycystic ovary syndrome

et al. 2005

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“…It produces cosmetic effects which profoundly affect their psychology. 10 In addition to above; PCOS is characterized by altered (anovulatory) menstrual cycle and infertility. In fact, it is one of the important causes of infertility at the young age in women.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The occurrence of obesity in conjunction with skin and hair manifestation of the syndrome can have a further negative effect on self-esteem and self-image. 10 The association between hyperinsulinaemia and PCOS was first noted by Burghen et al in 1980 who found a significant positive correlation between insulin, androstenedione and testosterone levels among PCOS women. 11 It is estimated that 20-40 % of PCOS women have impaired glucose tolerance, a number approximately seven fold higher than the rates in age and weight matched women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

A clinical comparative study on the effects of metformin and pioglitazone on clinical symptoms in cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome

Tanwar

Khilnani

2016

Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol

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“…It focused on the women's experiences, paying close attention to how they talked about their lives and their bodies. I treat these accounts as interpretative autobiographies (Kitzinger & Willmott, 2002), which implies that the analysis centred on the women's experiences and how they made sense of their body and situation. Moreover, in order to avoid fragmenting the data into 'snippets' (Riessman, 2008, p. 12), the analysis revolved around overarching patterns and extensive excerpts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Differently normal” and “normally different”: Negotiations of female embodiment in women's accounts of ‘atypical’ sex development

Guntram

2013

Social Science & Medicine

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AcknowledgementsI would like to express my deepest gratitude to the 23 interviewees who shared with me their stories about their lives. I would also like to thank the doctors, bloggers and patient organizations that helped me recruit the interviewees. KeywordsNormality, negotiation, diagnosis, sexed embodiment, atypical sex development, qualitative analysis, young women, Sweden Research highlights There is limited knowledge about facing atypical sex development as a young woman. The article explores how such women negotiate sexed embodiment. It shows how they use a "differently normal" and a "normally different" strategy. Doing so, they focus on bodily features that they do have to construe normalcy. Through a thematic and interpretative analysis, I outline two negotiation strategies: the "differently normal" and the "normally different" strategy. In the former, the women present themselves as just slightly different from 'normal' women. In the latter, they stress that everyone is different in some manner and thereby claim normalcy. The analysis reveals that access to diagnosis corresponds to the ways in which the women present themselves as "differently normal" and "normally different", thus shedding light on the complex role of diagnosis in their negotiations of sexed embodiment. It also reveals that the women make use of what they do have and how alignments with and work on norms interplay as normality is construed.

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‘The thief of womanhood’: women's experience of polycystic ovarian syndrome

Cited by 310 publications

References 32 publications

Clinical and psychological correlates of quality-of-life in polycystic ovary syndrome

Clinical and psychological correlates of quality-of-life in polycystic ovary syndrome

A clinical comparative study on the effects of metformin and pioglitazone on clinical symptoms in cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome

“Differently normal” and “normally different”: Negotiations of female embodiment in women's accounts of ‘atypical’ sex development

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