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Polycystic ovary syndrome

How common is polycystic ovary syndrome?

Polycystic ovary syndrome is quite common. But no one knows exactly how many women have it. That's because lots of women don't see a doctor, or their doctor doesn't spot it.

Also, the tests that doctors use for polycystic ovary syndrome have changed over the years, so it's hard to get a clear picture.

One study showed that in the United States:

Source:
Knochenhauer ES, Key TJ, Kahsar-Miller M, et al.
Prevalence of the Polycycstic Ovary Syndrome in unselected black and white women of the Southeastern United States: a prospective study.
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1998; 83: 3078-3083.

Between 2 in 100 and 8 in 100 women have PCOS
PCOS is just as common in black, white and Hispanic women.

In another study, the researches said that the actual figure is about 1 in 10 women. That's around 5 million American women.

Source:
Richardson MR.
Current perspectives in polycystic ovary syndrome.
American Family Physician. 2003; 68: 697-704.

Sources for the information on this page:

Knochenhauer ES, Key TJ, Kahsar-Miller M, et al.Prevalence of the Polycycstic Ovary Syndrome in unselected black and white women of the Southeastern United States: a prospective study.Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1998; 83: 3078-3083.

Richardson MR.Current perspectives in polycystic ovary syndrome.American Family Physician. 2003; 68: 697-704.

This information was last updated on Jul 13, 2009

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