ArticleBMJ open2019
Effect of polycystic ovary syndrome on cardiac autonomic function at a late fertile age: a prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent advances in polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, formerly polycystic ovary syndrome, with emphasis on endocrine and metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular risk.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Review
- Combined androgen excess polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity are associated with elevated beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in adult women.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2026Article
- Heart rate dynamics in polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome: from heterogeneity to wearable digital phenotyping.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Microglia as candidate links between hormonal signals and neuronal circuits in polycystic ovary syndrome: evidence gaps and a research agenda.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- 24-hour movement behaviours and cardiometabolic markers in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a compositional data analysis.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Polycystic ovary syndrome.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024Review
- Article
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and leukocyte telomere length: cross-sectional and longitudinal changes.European journal of endocrinology · 2022Article
- Women with polycystic ovary syndrome are burdened with multimorbidity and medication use independent of body mass index at late fertile age: A population-based cohort study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesPrevious studies of women in their 20s and 30s have reported impaired autonomic function in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We aimed to study, for the first time, whether PCOS is associated with impaired cardiac autonomic function independent of metabolic and hormonal status in their late reproductive years.
designA prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) study including 5889 women born in 1966 and followed through the age of 46. At that age, n=3706/5123 women (72%) answered the postal questionnaires and n=3280/5123 women (64%) participated in the clinical examination.
settingGeneral community.
participantsThe sample included women presenting both irregular menses (oligomenorrhoea or amenorrhoea) and hirsutism at age 31 (n=125) or with formally diagnosed PCOS by age 46 (n=181) and women without PCOS symptoms or diagnosis (n=1577). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Heart rate variability parameters: the root mean square of successive R-R differences (rMSSD), spectral power densities (LF: low frequency and HF: high frequency) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS).
resultsWe found that parasympathetic activity (assessed by rMSSD: 19.5 (12.4; 31.9) vs 24.3 (16.1; 34.8) ms, p=0.004 and HF: 172 (75; 399) vs 261 (112; 565) ms
conclusionsWe report here for the first time that late reproductive-aged women with PCOS display impaired cardiac autonomic function manifested as decreased vagal activity. Metabolic status, rather than hyperandrogenaemia and PCOS per se, was the strongest contributing factor. Given the link between cardiac morbidity and impaired autonomic function, the findings underline the importance of screening and treating metabolic abnormalities early on in women with PCOS.
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