Physical activity and health-related quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome attending fertility clinics in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study.
- 1Department of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder that substantially impairs health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Regular physical activity is a recommended first-line intervention, but the relationship between activity and HRQoL is understudied in South Asian women, particularly in those attending fertility clinics who carry the additional psychological burden of infertility. This study aimed to examine the association between physical activity levels and PCOS-specific HRQoL in women with PCOS attending fertility clinics in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Methods
An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at the fertility clinics of two tertiary care hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka: De Soysa Hospital for Women and Children and Castle Street Hospital for Women between 13 October and 7 November 2025. Eighty-five women aged 18-45 years with a clinician-confirmed diagnosis of PCOS were recruited by convenience sampling. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF), validated to the Sri Lankan setting, and expressed as MET-minutes per week. HRQoL was measured using the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Questionnaire (PCOSQ), validated in the Sri Lankan setting, which yields a total score and five domain scores (emotions, body hair, weight, infertility, menstrual problems) on a 1-7 scale, with higher scores indicating better HRQoL. PCOS phenotype was classified according to the Rotterdam criteria. Continuous variables were summarized using medians and interquartile ranges, and Spearman's rank correlation (rs) was used to examine the association between physical activity and HRQoL.Results
The mean (SD) age was 28.0 (4.9) years, and the median (IQR) age was 28 (24-30) years; the median body mass index was 30.2 (28.0-32.4) kg/m². The majority of participants (60.0%, n = 51) were classified as having low physical activity, with a median total activity score of 1017.0 (569.5-2459.3) MET-minutes/week. The median overall PCOSQ score was 3.07 (2.37-3.64), indicating moderate HRQoL impairment; the lowest-scoring domain was body hair and appearance (median 2.20), and the highest was infertility-related worries (median 3.50). Physical activity showed a statistically significant moderate positive correlation with overall HRQoL (rs = 0.465, p < 0.001). Domain-specific analyses revealed significant moderate positive correlations with emotional well-being (rs = 0.493, p < 0.001), weight (rs = 0.470, p < 0.001) and infertility (rs = 0.464, p < 0.001) domains, while body hair (rs = 0.210, p = 0.054) and menstrual symptoms (rs = - 0.027, p = 0.805) were not significantly associated. Phenotype-stratified analyses showed significant associations in Phenotype A (rs = 0.384, p = 0.004) and Phenotype B (rs = 0.490, p = 0.015); Phenotypes C (n = 2) and D (n = 4) were underpowered.Conclusions
In this cross-sectional sample, higher physical activity levels were associated with better overall PCOS-specific quality of life among women attending fertility clinics in Colombo, with the strongest domain-specific associations observed for emotional well-being, weight, and infertility-related concerns. Because the design was cross-sectional, causality cannot be inferred. Nonetheless, given that sixty per cent of participants did not meet recommended activity levels, these findings support routinely assessing physical activity in fertility clinic care and suggest that physical activity may be a useful target for future longitudinal and interventional studies of HRQoL in women with PCOS in Sri Lanka.
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BibTeX
@article{lakshan2026physical,
title = {{Physical activity and health-related quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome attending fertility clinics in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study.}},
author = {G A R Lakshan and Mohamed Rishard},
journal = {BMC women's health},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12905-026-04742-2},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958216},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Physical activity and health-related quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome attending fertility clinics in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study.
AU - G A R Lakshan
AU - Mohamed Rishard
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/28
JO - BMC women's health
DO - 10.1186/s12905-026-04742-2
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958216
AB - Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder that substantially impairs health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Regular physical activity is a recommended first-line intervention, but the relationship between activity and HRQoL is understudied in South Asian women, particularly in those attending fertility clinics who carry the additional psychological burden of infertility. This study aimed to examine the association between physical activity levels and PCOS-specific HRQoL in women with PCOS attending fertility clinics in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at the fertility clinics of two tertiary care hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka: De Soysa Hospital for Women and Children and Castle Street Hospital for Women between 13 October and 7 November 2025. Eighty-five women aged 18-45 years with a clinician-confirmed diagnosis of PCOS were recruited by convenience sampling. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF), validated to the Sri Lankan setting, and expressed as MET-minutes per week. HRQoL was measured using the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Questionnaire (PCOSQ), validated in the Sri Lankan setting, which yields a total score and five domain scores (emotions, body hair, weight, infertility, menstrual problems) on a 1-7 scale, with higher scores indicating better HRQoL. PCOS phenotype was classified according to the Rotterdam criteria. Continuous variables were summarized using medians and interquartile ranges, and Spearman's rank correlation (rs) was used to examine the association between physical activity and HRQoL.Results The mean (SD) age was 28.0 (4.9) years, and the median (IQR) age was 28 (24-30) years; the median body mass index was 30.2 (28.0-32.4) kg/m². The majority of participants (60.0%, n = 51) were classified as having low physical activity, with a median total activity score of 1017.0 (569.5-2459.3) MET-minutes/week. The median overall PCOSQ score was 3.07 (2.37-3.64), indicating moderate HRQoL impairment; the lowest-scoring domain was body hair and appearance (median 2.20), and the highest was infertility-related worries (median 3.50). Physical activity showed a statistically significant moderate positive correlation with overall HRQoL (rs = 0.465, p < 0.001). Domain-specific analyses revealed significant moderate positive correlations with emotional well-being (rs = 0.493, p < 0.001), weight (rs = 0.470, p < 0.001) and infertility (rs = 0.464, p < 0.001) domains, while body hair (rs = 0.210, p = 0.054) and menstrual symptoms (rs = - 0.027, p = 0.805) were not significantly associated. Phenotype-stratified analyses showed significant associations in Phenotype A (rs = 0.384, p = 0.004) and Phenotype B (rs = 0.490, p = 0.015); Phenotypes C (n = 2) and D (n = 4) were underpowered.Conclusions In this cross-sectional sample, higher physical activity levels were associated with better overall PCOS-specific quality of life among women attending fertility clinics in Colombo, with the strongest domain-specific associations observed for emotional well-being, weight, and infertility-related concerns. Because the design was cross-sectional, causality cannot be inferred. Nonetheless, given that sixty per cent of participants did not meet recommended activity levels, these findings support routinely assessing physical activity in fertility clinic care and suggest that physical activity may be a useful target for future longitudinal and interventional studies of HRQoL in women with PCOS in Sri Lanka.
SN - 1472-6874
ER -