Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
CLINICAL RESEARCHThe Lived Experience of Women Diagnosed With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Section snippets
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of women diagnosed with PCOS. Findings generated from this study will add to the growing body of knowledge that addresses the psychosocial aspects of the syndrome. This knowledge may inform health care practitioners of the needs of women with PCOS and may ultimately improve health outcomes and overall well‐being of this population.
The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experience of women with PCOS.
Design
Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher sought to uncover the meaning of the experience of living with PCOS. The inquiry focused on exploring and interpreting interview data of women’s lived experiences. Phenomenology was the appropriate method for this investigation because it allowed the researcher to gain an understanding of an experience from the perspective of those who live it.
Setting
The researcher used a large women’s health care practice in the northeast United States to locate
Results
Analysis of the participants’ transcribed responses revealed that the lived experience could be described by seven distinctive experiences: (a) identifying differences, (b) acknowledging impact on femininity, (c) searching for answers, (d) wanting to be normal, (e) gaining control, (f) letting go of guilt, and (g) dealing with it.
Discussion
This study adds to the growing body of qualitative research that explores the experiences of women diagnosed with PCOS. Kitzinger and Willmott (2002) discovered that the women in their study felt “freakish, abnormal, and not proper women” as a direct result of experiencing hirsutism, infertility, and abnormal menstrual bleeding (349). The participants in the current study did not refer to themselves as abnormal or freakish but did describe themselves as being different from other women as a
Limitations
The most obvious limitation of this study is the impact of the setting on the ability of the researcher to generalize the findings. The use of a women’s health care practice in the northeast United States allows the findings from this study to be applied only to similar settings. Another identified limitation involves the small, homogeneous sample that the researcher interviewed. The perceptions of the women interviewed in this study may not reflect those of a larger, more demographically
Practice implications
Based upon patient responses in this research, there are several areas where nurses can make a positive impact on the lives of women who are diagnosed with PCOS. These areas include (a) diagnosis, (b) management of physical problems, (c) management of psychosocial issues, and (d) education.
An accurate diagnosis should be made in a timely fashion. This requires that advanced practice nurses be knowledgeable about the common signs and symptoms that are associated with PCOS. Every attempt should
Research implications
The findings from this study represent the lived experience of a sample of premenopausal women with PCOS. Future research in this area could be conducted with adolescent females and postmenopausal women diagnosed with the syndrome. Comparisons could then be made between the findings from the current study and the findings generated from interviews with these two additional groups of females to determine if similarities or differences, or both, exist in the lived experience of having PCOS. This
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