Cost of Mental Health Disorders Linked with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Almost $6 Billion in 2021

Newswise — The cost of mental health disorders associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – depression, anxiety and eating disorders – reached almost $6 billion in 2021, according to a new study presented Monday, June 13 at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

PCOS is a common hormone imbalance that affects approximately 6 million women in the United States. It is associated with increased risks for a number of conditions including infertility, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke and endometrial cancer.

“PCOS is also associated with an increased prevalence of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders,” said lead study researcher Adam Bonner, B.S., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham-Heersink School of Medicine in Birmingham, Ala.

The researchers wanted to calculate the healthcare-related costs of mental health disorders in women with PCOS. They reviewed 19 studies which included a total of 28,482 women with PCOS and 27,124 without the condition. They analyzed the odds of anxiety, depression and eating disorders among patients diagnosed with PCOS. They found that women with PCOS were 77% more likely to have anxiety, 53% more likely to have eating disorders and more than twice as likely to have depression compared to women without PCOS.

They then calculated the excess costs of these mental health disorders for women with PCOS in the United States. They estimated the direct PCOS-related healthcare costs in 2021 were $2.987 billion for depression, $2.216 billion for anxiety and $694 million for eating disorders.

“This work is the first to estimate the excess direct healthcare costs of mental health disorders associated with PCOS in the United States,” Bonner said. “Our findings mandate that the scientific, medical and policy community increase its focus on this important disorder.”

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