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Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

From: The effects of exercise on cardiometabolic outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome not taking the oral contraceptive pill: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

PICO

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Population

Diagnosed with PCOS according to the Rotterdam Criteria 2003, National Institute of Health (NIH) 1990 criteria or Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (AE-PCOS) Society 2006 criteria.

Be post-menarche and pre-menopausal.

Be inactive (< 150 min/week of moderate-to-high intensity physical activity).

Receiving fertility treatment, taking metformin or OCP, or having a diagnosis of any pathology that may be promoting PCOS symptoms such as Cushing’s syndrome, congenital hyperplasia or androgen-secreting tumour.

Intervention

Any sample size.

Aerobic exercise training, anaerobic exercise training, resistance training or combinations.

At least 2 weeks of structured, supervised sessions.

Interventions including multiple arms (such as aerobic and anaerobic exercise training, or a medication arm) will be included if it is possible to isolate the effects of the exercise intervention through a control group or placebo.

Crossover trials and interventions that are combined (such as lifestyle intervention including both exercise and diet management—where diet management refers to participants actively changing their caloric intake or the macronutrient composition of their diet in response to given targets).

Comparison

A control group of women with PCOS undertaking no interventions. No intervention is defined as not taking part in any structured exercise training and not receiving fertility treatment, metformin, oral contraceptive pill (OCP) or statins.

Healthy control group.

Outcome

Primary outcomes will be low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), TC:HDL ratio, TG, oxidised LDL, cIMT, fasting glucose, HbA1c, blood pressure, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), abdominal adiposity and inflammation markers.

Secondary outcomes will be total testosterone, free testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Outcome measures that have not been recorded at baseline and post intervention.