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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Oct;24(5):787-797.
doi: 10.1007/s40519-018-0533-y. Epub 2018 Jun 26.

Increased odds of disordered eating in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Iris Lee  1 , Laura G Cooney  2 , Shailly Saini  2 , Mary D Sammel  2   3 , Kelly C Allison  4 , Anuja Dokras  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Increased odds of disordered eating in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Iris Lee et al. Eat Weight Disord. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to identify the risk of eating disorders (ED) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared to controls.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that included women with well-defined PCOS and controls and used validated ED screening/diagnostic tools to measure mean ED score, prevalence of abnormal ED scores, and/or prevalence of specific ED diagnoses such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Results: Eight studies, including 470 women with PCOS and 390 controls, met inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Meta-analysis of seven of those studies found that the odds of an abnormal ED score (OR 3.05; 95% CI 1.33, 6.99; four studies) and the odds of any ED diagnosis (OR 3.87; 95% CI 1.43, 10.49; four studies) were higher in women with PCOS compared to controls.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that women with PCOS are at increased odds of having abnormal ED scores and specific ED diagnoses. Given the potential implications of an ED on weight management strategies, our findings support routine screening for ED in this population.

Level of evidence: Level I, systematic review and meta-analysis.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Binge eating disorder; Bulimia nervosa; Eating disorder; Polycystic ovary syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1:
Fig. 1:
Flow chart of systematic review and meta-analysis article selection (Created using draw.io)
Fig. 2:
Fig. 2:
Forrest plot comparing the odds of ED in women with PCOS to controls. Random effects meta-analysis used for all analyses. 2a: Odds of disordered eating (i.e. abnormal ED score) 2b: Odds of having any ED diagnosis; 2c: Odds of BN; 2d: Odds of BED (Created using Stata)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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