Lifestyle management improves quality of life and depression in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: To assess the impact of adding exercise to dietary restriction on depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Design: Analysis of depression and quality of life outcomes from a randomized, controlled prospective clinical intervention that evaluated the effects on a range of health outcomes in women with PCOS. Setting: Clinical research unit. Patient(s): One hundred four overweight/obese PCOS women (aged 29.3 ± 0.7 years; body mass index [BMI] 36.1 ± 0.5 kg/m²). Intervention(s): Randomized to one of three 20-week lifestyle programs: diet only, diet and aerobic exercise, or diet and combined aerobic-resistance exercise. Main Outcome Measure(s): Depression and PCOS-specific HRQOL. Result(s): Forty-nine women completed the intervention (diet only = 14, diet and aerobic exercise = 15, diet and combined aerobic-resistance exercise = 20). By week 20 all groups achieved weight loss and had improvements in depression and PCOS-specific HRQOL scores, except for body hair domain score. There was no difference between treatments for all outcomes. Conclusion(s): This study demonstrated that dietary restriction alone and combined with exercise had similar benefits for improving depression and HRQOL scores in overweight and obese women with PCOS.