Comparison of therapeutic effects in terms of menstrual irregularities between statins and metformin in unmarried patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Objective: To compare therapeutic effects in terms of menstrual irregularities between Statins and Metformin in unmarried patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Combined Military Hospital, Zhob Pakistan, from Sep 2021 to Feb 2022. Methodology: A study sample of 60 unmarried women aged 18-35 years diagnosed with PCOS having menstrual irregularity was collected and randomly allocated into two treatment groups. Women in Group-A were given simvastatin, while Group-B received Metformin. The outcome variable was an improvement in menstrual irregularity, assessed after three months of treatment in terms of the spontaneous normal menstrual cycle (28-35 days). Results: The mean age of the patients was 27.43±4.72 years, while the mean duration of the disease was 23.63±5.99 months. The mean BMI of these women was 26.78±3.47 Kg/m2, and 20 (33.3%) women were obese. The frequency of improvement in menstrual irregularity was significantly higher in women receiving Simvastatin as compared to Metformin [24 (80.0%) vs. 10 (33.3%); p-value<0.001)]. Conclusion: In the present study, simvastatin was found more efficacious in the treatment of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome than Metformin in terms of normalization of menstrual irregularities regardless of patient's age, duration of disease and BMI, which advocates the preferred use of statins in the management of future gynaecological practice. (author)