Investigation on the association of occupational stress with risk of polycystic ovary syndrome and mediating effects of HOMA-IR

We aimed to evaluate the association between occupational stress and PCOS risk in a Chinese population and whether insulin resistance mediates the association. A total of 366 patients with PCOS and 325 controls were included in this study. Three logistic regression analyzes were applied in statistical analysis. In the first logistic regression analysis, the occupational stress significantly influenced development of PCOS (cumulative R-2 = 0.737). In model 2, the environmental factors cumulatively accounted for 4.2% of the variance in PCOS risk. In model 3, which contained HOMA-IR, the R-2 of HOMA-IR to PCOS risk was as high as 0.41, but the R-2 of occupational stress reduced to 0.22. HOMA-IR became the main risk factor for PCOS. SEM model showed that ORQ, PSQ and PRQ had a direct and indirect effect on PCOS, and the indirect effect was through HOMA-IR. Occupational stress has a direct and indirect relationship with PCOS, which is mediated by HOMA-IR.