Lifestyle interventions in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A scoping systematic review of randomised evidence.

OBJECTIVE

Lifestyle interventions (LSI) are recommended as first-line treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), yet the strength of evidence underpinning LSIs effectiveness remains unclear. We systematically reviewed the literature on LSIs in PCOS, evaluated evidence quality and summarised recommendations for clinical practice.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL for all randomised trials evaluating any LSI in PCOS until April 2021. We extracted data on the LSIs' characteristics, dietary composition, duration, implementation, compliance assessment, and reported outcomes. We evaluated the evidence gap using a network-map of evaluated interventions.

RESULTS

We screened 550 citations and included 79 trials (n=4659 women). Most trials were from high-income countries (57/79, 72%) over a decade ago (48/79, 61%) and enrolled obese/overweight women (57/77, 74%). BMI was the commonest reported outcome (58/79, 73%), followed by weight (49/79, 62%), and testosterone (45/79, 57%). More than half of the trials had high-risk of randomisation (51/79, 65%) and allocation bias (49/79, 62%). Only 27 were registered prospectively (27/79, 34%). Two-thirds evaluated a dietary intervention (70/79, 88%), most commonly a hypocaloric diet (32/70, 46%); nineteen evaluated a combined dietary with pharmacological intervention (19/79, 24%), six combined diet with physical or behavioural intervention (6/79, 8%), and only one trial included all four elements.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence on LSI in PCOS is of poor quality with high variations in trial design, comparisons, and outcome reporting. Hypocaloric diet is the most commonly recommended LSI intervention for primary care. Future trials are needed to evaluate pragmatic and simple LSIs in robust multicenter studies.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION: CRD42020186571.