Psychological Status of Adolescent Girls with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome During Coronavirus Outbreak: The Effect of 12 Weeks of Home-Based Aerobic Exercise

Background and Aim: Although staying at home seems to be the best way to reduce the risk of Covid 19 virus and stay safe from it, the home has physical and psychological effects on people, especially vulnerable populations. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in women which, in addition to many physical problems, it has many psychological manifestations. Thus, the present research was conducted to determine the effect of home-made aerobic activity on the psychological state of adolescent girls with PCOS in home quarantine conditions. Materials and Methods: In this 12-week study a sample of 40 adolescent girls with PCOS participated ─ 20 in the intervention, and 20 in the control, group, the intervention group performing home-based aerobic training for the whole period. In both groups anxiety and depression, as well as body image concern were determined at the beginning and at the end of the period, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression and Littleton Body Image Concern questionnaires, respectively; so was body composition by weight and height. The data were analyzed using the SPSS-22 software, the statistical tests being the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Analysis of covariance. Results: Before the intervention, the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly as regards anxiety, depression, body image concern and body composition (p> 0.05). Further analysis of the data revealed significant differences between the two groups regarding these variables (p = 0.001) at the end of the period. Conclusion: Supervised aerobic exercise in the home has a favorable effect on the psychological state of adolescent girls with PCOS and can be recommended as a safe therapy for these patients in corona conditions.