AbstractThe association between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and polycystic ovary
syndrome (PCOS) has been shown in many studies. These findings are still
controversial, however. It is unclear whether the co-incidence of subclinical
hypothyroidism and polycystic ovary syndrome will affect the severity of
metabolism. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to investigate the
association. A comprehensive search strategy was developed to obtain all
relevant studies published in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese
Academic Journal Full-text Database (CNKI) up to 31 December 2020. We adopted
the standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals
(CI) for evaluation, and sensitivity analysis was performed. Publication bias
was analyzed and represented by a funnel plot, and funnel plot symmetry was
assessed with Egger’s test. Twenty-seven studies with 4821 participants
(1300 PCOS patients with SCH, 3521 PCOS patients without SCH) were included in
the present meta-analysis,among which 71.31% chinese patients out of the
total. The results showed that PCOS patients with SCH had higher levels of
HOMA-IR, TG, TC, LDL, FBG, FCP, PRL and lower levels of HDL, LH and T. It also
recognized the limitation of the lack of a consistent definition of
hypothyroidism in the 27 studies included. The results of this study indicated
that SCH may aggravate lipid and glucose metabolism in patients with PCOS.