Publication:

Prevalence and phenotypic features of polycystic ovary syndrome among patients attending gynaecology clinic in two referral hospitals in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common gynaecological endocrine disease in women at reproductive age. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and phenotypes of PCOS among women attending gynecology clinic at the two referral hospitals in Yaoundé.

Methods It was a cross sectional retrospective study involving women attending the gynecology clinic of two referral hospitals in Yaoundé, Cameroon from January 2016 to March 2018. The socio-demographic information, clinical and laboratory characteristics of each patient were collected from the medical files.

Results A total of 143 patients diagnosed with PCOS were included. The prevalence of PCOS was estimated at 3.5%. The mean age of patients was 29.18±4.5 years with a range of 17 to 41 years. Most patients were either overweight (31.7%) or obese (43%) and 0.7% patients were underweight. The most frequent presentations of PCOS patients were infertility (74.1%), oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea (68.5%), hirsutism (62,9%) and acne (20.3%). The different phenotypes represented were classical phenotype A: 69% (99/143), phenotype B: 17% (24/143), phenotype C: 09% (13/143) and phenotype D: 05% (07/143). Medical treatment (76.9%) and general measures (23.1%) were the most frequent therapeutic options among PCOS patients. In vitro fertilization (08.4%) and surgical drilling (07%) was also used.

Conclusions Prevalence of PCOS in our setting is 3.5%. The classical phenotype A is the most common. It is important to think about PCOS in women attending gynecology clinic.