Table 3.

Laboratory measurements^a and risk factors for the metabolic syndrome for women with and without clinical features of PCOS

	PCOS (n = 104)	No PCOS (n = 286)	P value
Cardiac risk factors
Hypertension	60.1%	44.2%	<0.0001
Diabetes mellitus	32.5%	24.4%	0.022
Dyslipidemia	64.2%	58.1%	0.29
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	203.7 ± 49	194.4 ± 46	0.11
LDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	120.2 ± 41	114.4 ± 42	0.31a
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	50.8 ± 12	52.4 ± 11	0.26a
<50 mg/dl	54.8%	43.4%	0.044
Triglycerides (mg/dl)	184.3 ± 147	147.0 ± 113	<0.0001
>150 mg/dl	54.8%	36.3%	0.002
Body mass index (kg/m2)	31.1 ± 7	28.4 ± 6	0.006
≥30 kg/m2	50.0%	31.5%	0.016
Waist / hip ratio	0.885 ± 0.12	0.857 ± 0.11	0.040
Range	0.70–1.30	0.64–1.62
Waist circumference (inches)	38.7 ± 7	36.9 ± 8	0.056
>35 inches	69.4%	60.0%	0.076
Blood pressure (mm Hg)
Systolic	139.9 ± 20	140.1 ± 22	0.92
Diastolic	77.4 ± 10	75.7 ± 11	0.16
Age at hypertension diagnosis (mean ± sd in yr)	44.9 ± 14	52.0 ± 15	0.002
Fasting glucose (mg/dl)	132.1 ± 67	126.1 ± 58	0.42b
>110 mg/dl	45.3%	43.1%	0.72
Age at diabetes diagnosis (yr)	51.0 ± 14	53.3 ± 13	0.31
Insulin resistancec	33.7%	22.1%	0.001
Triglyceride/HDL ratio	3.9 ± 3.9	2.9 ± 2.5	<0.0001
>3.0	55.9%	38.7%	0.005
No. of metabolic syndrome risk factors (mean ±sd)	2.9 ± 1.4	2.4 ± 1.3	0.014
0	7.1%	8.9%	0.001
1	13.6%	19.0%
2	23.4%	28.6%
≥3	55.8%	43.6%

Data are presented as percentage or mean ± sd. The available sample size is: n = 328, n = 285, n = 330 for available HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol as well as n = 330 for triglycerides and n = 327 for glucose. HDL, High-density lipoprotein. 

^aThese results persisted in a general linear model controlling for a history of dyslipidemia and statin use. 

^bThese results persisted in a general linear model controlling for a history of diabetes. 

^cInsulin resistance was defined using a threshold of HOMA-IR ≥ 2.5 (17).