WEDNESDAY, Sept. 29, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cost an estimated $8 billion to diagnose and treat nationwide in 2020, according to a study published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Carrie Riestenberg, M.D., from the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues used data from 29 published studies and medical treatment cost data to estimate the excess prevalence and economic burden of pregnancy-related and long-term health morbidities attributable to PCOS.
The researchers found that in the United States, the additional total health care-related economic burden due to pregnancy-related and long-term morbidities associated with PCOS was estimated to be $4.3 billion annually in 2020. Treatment of long-term metabolic health conditions, including stroke and type 2 diabetes, and reproductive health problems such as infertility, abnormal uterine bleeding, menstrual dysfunction, and hirsutism are the most expensive aspects of PCOS care. Pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia, made up about 5 percent of the estimated costs, while the initial diagnostic process was less than 2 percent of the total cost burden.
“Our results suggest that diagnosing PCOS sooner could help reduce the complications women experience and lower the overall cost of providing care,” Riestenberg said in a statement. “Increased public awareness of the condition could help improve the quality of care.”
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