Exercise improves anthropometric outcomes in PCOS

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who perform high‐intensity or aerobic exercises may see improvements in their weight and body mass index (BMI), according to a study.

A total of 47 previously inactive women with PCOS were randomly assigned to undergo high‐intensity interval training (HIIT; n=16) or continuous aerobic exercise training (CAET; n=14) or to a no‐exercise control (n=17). Those in the exercise groups were prescribed 78 sessions over 26 weeks.

Most of the women (85 percent) completed the intervention, while exercise adherence was 68 percent (interquartile range [IQR] 53–86 percent). Meanwhile, adherence to daily ovulation prediction kit (OPK) testing in the first half of the intervention was high at 87 percent (IQR 61–97 percent) but dropped to 65 percent (IQR 0–96 percent) in the second half.

Compared with the no-exercise control, both CAET and HIIT yielded a marked reduction in BMI (differences, −1.0 kg/m²; p=0.01 and −0.9 kg/m²; p=0.04, respectively). Meanwhile, waist circumference decreased comparably in all groups: by −7.3 cm with HIIT, by −6.9 cm with CAET, and by −4.5 cm with no-exercise control.

Specifically, HIIT produced a significant reduction in mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol compared with CAET (difference, −0.33 mmol/L; p=0.03) and an increase in HDL‐C relative to the no-exercise control (difference, 0.18 mmol/L; p=0.04).

The feasibility challenges with adherence to OPK testing limited the ability of the study to analyse the effect of the exercise interventions on ovulation. Additional studies are needed to determine optimal and acceptable exercise prescriptions for this population.