Prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance in Indian women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a common endocrine condition affecting reproductive age women, associated with impaired glucose intolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of IGT and type 2 DM in Indian polycystic ovarian syndrome patients as compared to control population.Methods: This prospective cross sectional study included 130 PCOS women and 76 control women attending OBG department Vydehi medical college and research centre. From all included subject’s clinical history, family history and anthropometric measurements were obtained. All women had a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with measurement of fasting glucose and 2-hour glucose levels. Normal glucose tolerance (NGT), IGT, and type 2 diabetes were defined using glucose levels during the OGTT, according to the criteria proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).Results: Among 130 PCOS women, glucose tolerance was normal in 101 (77.69%) women, 25 (19.2%) had IGT and 4 (3.07%) had type 2 DM; compared to 76 healthy controls, 70 (92.1%) had normal glucose tolerance and 6 (7.9%) had IGT. None of the controls had type 2 DM. This finding was statistically significant with P value 0.02.Conclusions: The prevalence of IGT and type 2 DM in women with PCOS is significantly more in comparison with healthy controls. Therefore, women with PCOS should periodically have an OGTT for diabetes screening