The polycystic ovary syndrome: Psychosexual correlates

Abstract

Eleven women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (POS) were interviewed prior to treatment to assess psychosexual and behavioral characteristics. Because the polycystic ovary syndrome is characterized by an elevated plasma level of free testosterone that presumably develops after birth, we examined specifically the six areas traditionally explored in prenatally androgenized women — play preference, energy expenditure level, interest in dress and appearance, career vs. family preference, sexual arousal to narrative and visual stimuli, and sexual initiative. While these women described patterns in all categories similar to those reported in the earlier studies of prenatally androgenized women, their behavior was significantly different only in sexual initiative from that of two normal control groups. These findings suggest that increased sexual initiative may be a heretofore unemphasized clinical feature of the polycystic ovary syndrome and conceivably a concomitant of elevated free plasma testosterone.