Your partner in quality

ABADA COLLEGE education

Marfrancisco, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
College Department

GEE4

GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

DATE: FEBRUARY 17, 2023

I. RESEARCH TITLE:
 POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (PCOS)
IN URBAN INDIA 2011

II. RESEARCHERS OF THE STUDY

 Heidi Ann Manlove

III. ABSTRACT
This thesis research focuses on urban women in India diagnosed
with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a complex metabolic,
endocrine and reproductive disorder affecting approximately 5-10% of
the female population in developed countries. The prevalence of PCOS
is on the rise in developing nations like India, which are
undergoing rapid nutritional transitions due to westernized diets
and lifestyle. However, less appreciated in the literature are the
developmental psychosocial impacts for women diagnosed with PCOS,
especially in developing countries. Thus, the goal of my thesis
research was to contribute to the small but growing literature by
investigating psychosocial dimensions of women with PCOS in the
developing urban areas of Delhi, India.
Using a mixed method case-control study design, I investigated
gender identity, psychological general health and well-being (PGWB),
and body image. A total of 65 (33 PCOS, 32 control) urban Indian
woman from Delhi NCR1 (National Capital Region) were recruited from
a North Delhi gynecology clinic, and by word of mouth. All 65 women
completed the survey, 5 of them (3 PCOS, 2 control) completed the
semi-structured interview, and 4 of those 5 allowed me to complete
participant observation with them.
No statistical differences between PCOS and control groups were
observed for the quantitative measures of the survey once body mass
index, waist circumference and other
covarying demographic variables were controlled for.
However, the qualitative results suggest a more complex
illustration of possible psychosocial differences between PCOS and
control participants, especially in regard to body image.
Despite intriguing qualitative results, more nuanced and in-depth
quantitative and qualitative work is needed to verify whether urban
Indian women with PCOS contend with discrete biopsychosocial
trajectories of health and well-being. Future research is warranted
on cross-cultural conceptualization of PCOS as well as the relevance
of marital status, geographic location, socioeconomic status, diet,
lifestyle and attitudes about health to the psychosocial experience
of PCOS.

IV. RESPONEDNTS OF THE STUDY

(043) 284-7063/284-7150 09512782306 abadacollege1@gmail.com Abada College

 Your partner in quality
ABADACOLLEGE education
Marfrancisco, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
College Department

Participants were recruited from multiple field work sites in Delhi:

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Sant Parmanand Hospital in
Civil Lines (North Delhi), at participants’ homes, and at University
of Delhi, North Campus.
 A total of 65 research subjects were
recruited via word of mouth from the either the participants
themselves or from friends,
family or their doctor.
 A Total of 65 participants
 33 were in the experimental group diagnosed with PCOS
- Out of 33 women in this group, 6 self-reported that a doctor
has diagnosed them with PCOS (recruited at their homes or
through friends) and 27 had a doctor-reported confirmation
of a PCOS diagnosis (recruited at Sant Parmanand Hospital).
 32 participants in the study that served as the control group:
- 12 had a doctor-reported confirmation (recruited from Sant
Parmanand Hospital), and 20 self-reported that they were not
diagnosed with PCOS (recruited from participant’s homes or
by friends).
All the participants in this study were between ages 18-35, not
pregnant, not beginning menopause, and not taking exogenous steroid
hormones (except oral contraceptives).

V. RESEARCH LOCALE
The other recent Indian study from Kolkata, India investigated
the prevalence and risk of depressive symptoms among Indian women with
PCOS using a self-administered questionnaire called, The Primary Care
Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Health 25 Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-
9) (Bhattacharya and Jha 2010).
This investigation resulted in a statistically significant higher
risk for depression in women with PCOS than controls without PCOS,
even after controlling for BMI (P<.001) (Bhattacharya and Jha 2010).
The authors then compared the women with PCOS who are diagnosed
with depression versus women with PCOS who are not diagnosed with
depression. They concluded that there was no clear biological (BMI,
waist circumference, or testosterone levels) or sociodemographic (Age,
marital status, education, or occupation) explanation for why some of
the women with PCOS had clinical depression diagnoses and others did
not (Bhattacharya and Jha 2010).

VI. RESULTS
The PCOS group had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) and
waist circumference (WC) than the control group. However, regardless
of PCOS and control group affiliation, within my research population
of urban Indian women, preoccupations with being overweight were most
notably associated with higher BMI and WC measurements.
The higher the BMI or WC measurement of the women in my study,
the more likely they reported a higher overweight preoccupation.
Furthermore, regardless of their BMI classification or level of
weight preoccupations, women of both groups reported a fair evaluation
of their weight class in accordance with their BMI or WC
classification.

(043) 284-7063/284-7150 09512782306 abadacollege1@gmail.com Abada College

 Your partner in quality
ABADACOLLEGE education
Marfrancisco, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
College Department

VII. OWN INSIGHTS ABOUT THE STUDY

This study provides compelling evidence that weight increase and
the inability to shed weight, both PCOS indicators, may negatively
impact the psychological health, well-being, and experiences of urban
Indian women in Delhi who have been diagnosed with the condition.
Given the current findings of the researchers, which show that
PCOS patients were generally heavier than controls and that heavier
women were generally more concerned with their weight, this seems
conceivable. To illustrate potential special psychological patterns of
body weight appearance in urban India, more in-depth research into
these links with marital status, economic position, and geographic
location may be helpful.

(043) 284-7063/284-7150 09512782306 abadacollege1@gmail.com Abada College