A randomised controlled trial on the effects of a structural education module among women with polycystic ovarian syndrome on nutrition and physical activity changes

<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a complex metabolic, endocrine and reproductive disorder that has a huge impact on the life of women. To ascertain the effectiveness of health education module among women with PCOS.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>
<jats:p>This single-centre, randomised controlled trial was conducted on female staff of the University Putra Malaysia who were diagnosed with PCOS. Subjects were randomly assigned into intervention (n = 34) and control group (n = 35). In the intervention group, they need to take part in 8 education sessions in total over 6 months, and feedback was collected at the end of the session.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>Primary outcome was changes in knowledge, attitude and practise of nutrition. Secondary outcomes were eating attitude and behaviour as well as knowledge, attitude and practise towards physical activity. After 6-months of intervention, there was a significant difference observed in nutrition knowledge 1 score (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < 0.001) and nutrition knowledge 2 score (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.01) between intervention and control groups. Similarly, there was a significant difference observed in international physical activity questionnaire score (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.02) between intervention and control groups. However there was no significant changes for attitude and practice of nutrition, eating attitude as well as knowledge, attitude and practise of physical activity.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>Our study showed that 6-months of education intervention can improve nutrition and physical activity knowledge. Based on this study, the education module may be considered an effective intervention for women with PCOS.</jats:p>
<jats:p><jats:italic>Trial registration</jats:italic>: Name of the registry: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR). Trial registration number: ACTRN12617000135314. Date of registration: 24/01/2017. URL of trial registry record: <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372037">https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372037</jats:ext-link></jats:p>
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