TOPLINE:

Women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome, had a higher risk for all-cause mortality than those without PMOS. The elevated risk was primarily driven by diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cohort study to assess the long-term risk for all-cause and cause-specific mortality in women with vs without PMOS.
• They analysed data of 9839 women with PMOS (mean age at diagnosis, 26.9 years) and 28,238 matched control women without PMOS from nationwide Finnish healthcare registers between 1969 and 2019; the median follow-up duration of this study was 12 years.
• The primary outcome was the risk for all-cause mortality; specific causes of death were investigated using official national death records and standard cause categories.

TAKEAWAY:

• During follow-up, 2.02% of women with PMOS vs 1.43% of those without the condition died. Those with PMOS had a 33% higher risk for all-cause mortality than those without (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.33; P = .001).
• Women with vs without PMOS had a higher risk for mortality due to diseases of the circulatory system (aHR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.14-2.50) and neoplasms (aHR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.04-1.86).
• In more detailed cause analyses, women with PMOS had a higher risk for mortality related to colon cancer (aHR, 4.57; 95% CI, 1.29-16.21), other diseases of the circulatory system (aHR, 4.28; 95% CI, 1.63-11.26), and bronchitis and emphysema (aHR, 6.19; 95% CI, 1.13-33.85) than those without.

IN PRACTICE:

"Effective strategies to reduce mortality risk in women with PCOS [PMOS] should be investigated. These results also highlight the broad health consequences of PCOS [PMOS] beyond reproductive dysfunction," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Terhi T. Piltonen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland. It was published online on May 29, 2026, in the European Journal of Endocrinology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study lacked data on BMI and lifestyle factors, with the education level serving as a proxy for socioeconomic status. Diagnosed obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes may have been underreported in the healthcare registers. Because the study included women already seeking care for PMOS, findings may not be applicable to the entire population.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received funding from the Research Council of Finland, the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, and other sources. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.