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Review
. 2019 May 16:15:1273-1285.
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S168944. eCollection 2019.

Binge eating in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: prevalence, causes, and management strategies

Isabel Krug  1 , Sarah Giles  1 , Chiara Paganini  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Binge eating in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: prevalence, causes, and management strategies

Isabel Krug et al. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. .

Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests that disordered eating, particularly binge-eating symptomatology, is overrepresented within Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) populations. This comorbidity presents a clinical dilemma as current treatment approaches for PCOS emphasize the importance of weight management, diet, exercise, and the potential for harm of such treatment approaches in PCOS patients with comorbid disordered eating. However, limited research has assessed the occurrence of binge eating and disordered eating in PCOS patients. Consequently, little is known about the prevalence of binge eating in PCOS, and the possible etiological processes to explain this comorbidity remain poorly understood. Given the paucity of research on this topic, the aims of this narrative review are fourfold: 1) to outline the main symptoms of PCOS and binge eating; 2) to provide an overview of the prevalence of binge eating in PCOS; 3) to outline possible etiological factors for the comorbidity between PCOS and binge eating; and 4) to provide an overview of management strategies of binge eating in PCOS.

Keywords: PCOS; binge eating; eating disorders; management; prevalence; risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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