Jennifer E Plouffe, BA, MSPH, Manisha Rao, BPTh, MS, and Thayle Reid-Hellberg
PCOS Awareness Association Medical Outreach Leader, Co-Leader and Student Intern
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Endocrinol Metab Syndr
From April to May 2018 the PCOS Awareness Association conducted a survey of our social media following. The survey covered topics such as general demographic information, diagnosis methods/process, treatment methods, satisfaction with the medical care received, topics of infertility and mental health were also included. This survey, comprising of 599 responses from around the globe, including the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Mexico (and many others), meets the requirements of both a simple random and convenient sample. While this study is largely unfinished in its analysis, the results are astounding. Forty-one point three percent of women were not satisfied with the care they received while getting a diagnosis. Consequently, eighty-two percent claim they have anxiety over their PCOS symptoms. Seventy-three point five percent self-report not being able to .manage their PCOS symptoms. Ninety-three point four percent of women self-report having experienced body image issues. The preliminary results of this survey reveals a gap in PCOS understanding, diagnosis, treatment and management globally, and further reveals that more needs to be done by way of PCOS research. By way of bettering PCOS research, including diagnosis methods, eighty-seven point eight percent of respondents were unaware that the diagnosis criteria hasnâ??t changed since 2003, and forty-four point nine percent understand that this lack of research and re-evaluation leaves many women with PCOS undiagnosed, while fifty-five point one percent did not know that this lack of re-evaluation leaves many women undiagnosed with their PCOS.
Jennifer Plouffé has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UNC Greensboro and a master’s of science in public health from Southern New Hampshire University. Jennifer has been running the medical outreach portion of the POCS Awareness Association since 2016, and has been an advocate since her own diagnosis in 2009. Jennifer has been a part of various primary and secondary research projects throughout her undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate career. Manisha Rao is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology at Texas Woman’s University (Denton, TX). She is passionate about clinical research aimed at improving health of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). She is currently evaluating the effects of a dietary intervention on symptoms, metabolic and inflammatory parameters in PCOS. Her focus also includes disseminating information from existing and new literature to increase awareness about PCOS in community.
E-mail: jen@pcosaa.org
