ABSTRACT:
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) was considered to be one of the unrecognized and under-diagnosed multi-symptom hormonal disorders among women and is found to be one of the major causes of female infertility in the Philippines. With this rationale, the study aimed to assess and gain a clearer understanding of the chief complaints, psychological distress, and coping skills of women living with PCOS. This study used a descriptive correlational method. Using this process, the study produced findings from 140 respondents that emphasized the relationship between chief complaints, psychological distress, and coping styles among PCOS women. The entire study gave significance to the following PCOS chief complaints namely infertility issues, menstrual irregularities, acne, weight gain, hair loss, and darkening of the skin. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents suffer from a moderate level of psychological distress with several elevated indicators of psychological burdens (e.g. feeling tired, feeling nervous, feeling depressed, etc) that might signify a potential risk for anxiety and depression. The use of healthy and unhealthy coping styles was also accentuated in this study, encompassing the use of coping styles as a basis to lessen the individual’s distress at some point of their coping process, and using these coping techniques might lessen the effect of the chief symptoms while maintaining and strengthening the disorder, causing the individual to have an elevated level of psychological distress.
Keywords: PCOS, chief complaints, psychological distress, coping styles
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