title: Metformin improved health-related quality of life in ethnic Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have assessed whether the amelioration of the clinical signs of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) achieved by treatment leads to improvement in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. This study was aimed to examine the HRQoL of ethnic Chinese women with PCOS who received metformin treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study was conducted at a medical center in Taiwan. Study participants aged 18-45 years were diagnosed as having PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria, and all received metformin treatment. Their HRQoL was assessed using generic (WHOQOL-Bref) and PCOS-specific (Chi-PCOSQ) instruments. Mixed effect models were used to examine the effects of metformin on repeatedly measured HRQoL. Additional analyses using stratified patients characteristics (overweight vs. normal; hyperandrogenism vs. non-hyperandrogenism) were done.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recruited 109 participants (56 % were overweight, 80 % had hyperandrogenism). Among the domain scores of WHOQOL-Bref, the psychological domain score was the lowest one (12.64 ± 2.2, range 4-20). Weight (3.25 ± 1.59, range 1-7) and infertility (3.38 ± 1.93, range 1-7) domain scores were relatively low among the domain scores of Chi-PCOSQ. Overweight and hyperandrogenic patients had significantly lower HRQoL as compared with those of normal weight and non-hyperandrogenic patients, respectively. Metformin significantly improved the physical domain of WHOQOL-Bref (p = 0.01), and the infertility (p = 0.043) and acne and hair loss aspects (p = 0.008) of PCOS-specific HRQoL. In the subgroup analysis, significantly improved HRQoL following metformin treatment appeared for only overweight and hyperandrogenism subgroups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Metformin might improve health-related quality of life of polycystic ovary syndrome women by ameliorating psychological disturbances due to acne, hair loss and infertility problems, especially for overweight and hyperandrogenic patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan, 7010, Taiwan. huangtz@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Huang-Tz
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan, 7010, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Chi
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University and Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Meng-Hsing
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Chung-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008687:Metformin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013624:Taiwan; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D008687:Metformin
keywords: Chinese; Health-related quality of life; Hyperandrogenism; Metformin; Overweight; Polycystic ovary syndrome