The State of PMOS Research
PMOS Atlas is an independent research observatory mapping 20,777 indexed publications on Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), from 2015 to 2025.
It captures a field in transition, moving from PCOS terminology to PMOS, and provides a baseline of what is being studied, where research is happening, how often funding is acknowledged, and which gaps remain visible.
PMOS affects an estimated 8 to 13% of women of reproductive age worldwide, yet many remain undiagnosed or receive fragmented care. WHO, 2023 ↗
39 ahead-of-print articles from 2026 are indexed but excluded from all charts
What the data shows
Publications have grown 3.5× since 2015, but funding acknowledgement has remained almost flat, with only 25.2% of papers naming a funder.
See the funding dataHalf of indexed publications focus on specific symptoms or clinical domains; 30.3% investigate underlying mechanisms.
See how it is studiedFive countries account for 52% of indexed publications, and only 13.7% involve cross-border collaboration.
See the geographyThe shape of the field
Five countries account for more than half of indexed publications, and only a small share of papers involve cross-border collaboration. Some topics, especially mental health, appear less connected to the rest of the research landscape.
Top Research Topics
Top Countries by Output
Most isolated topics
Share of each topic's papers that carry no other topic tag, i.e. studied on their own rather than alongside another field.
Mental Health & Psychology research is twice as isolated as any other topic, rarely connecting with the rest of the field.
How concentrated is the field?
Output is geographically concentrated; most PMOS research stays within national borders.
Conditions co-investigated with PMOS · Top 10
How often each condition is mentioned alongside PMOS in the literature, a map of what the field connects to clinically. This reflects co-mention, not whether the condition was the study's primary focus.
How is it funded?
Three-quarters of PMOS papers acknowledge no funder. That figure is itself an undercount: many funded papers omit acknowledgements. Of those that do disclose, a handful of national agencies dominate, and the acknowledged-funded share has not kept pace with publication growth.
A share that has held flat for a decade despite a 3.5× rise in total publications. 192 funded papers in 2015, 688 in 2025.
1,422 of 2,499 funders back just one PMOS paper. The landscape is top-heavy: a few dominant agencies and thousands of one-shot contributions.
Funded % by Topic
Most-Acknowledged Funders · By Distinct Article Count
Funding Trend · 2015 to 2025
What kind of research is it?
Much of PMOS research focuses on specific symptoms or clinical domains. That specialisation is necessary, but only around 30% of indexed publications focus on underlying mechanisms. Fast-growing areas such as microbiome, molecular mechanisms and animal models may help connect symptoms back to root causes.
Research Approach · Underlying Mechanisms vs Symptom Specific
Research treating one manifestation of PMOS within a specialist domain: fertility treatments, dermatology (hirsutism, acne), mental-health interventions, hormone management, diet, and exercise. Each tackles a single symptom rather than the underlying condition.
Topics in this bucket: fertility, dermatology, mental health, hormones, diet, exercise.
Methodological and translational work connecting research into underlying mechanisms to clinical care: diagnostic criteria, drug development, population epidemiology, and animal models. The infrastructure that lets the other two buckets do their work.
Topics in this bucket: diagnostics, treatment, epidemiology, animal models.
Research investigating why PMOS happens: biological mechanisms, genetic drivers, microbiome interactions, inflammatory processes, and metabolic pathways. Looks at the condition as a whole rather than treating individual symptoms.
Topics in this bucket: genetics, mechanisms, microbiome, inflammation, metabolic.
Inner ring = the 3 research-approach buckets. Outer ring = the 15 topics, each sized by article count and grouped under its bucket. Hover any segment for details.
Topic Momentum · Share Change 2015–17 → 2023–25
Evidence Pyramid · Study Type Distribution
Where burden outpaces research
Research attention is unevenly distributed relative to estimated disease burden. This map highlights where the gap appears widest, and where PMOS research may not yet reflect the scale of need.
Research vs Disease Burden
Largest research gaps
Gap score = disease burden percentile minus research intensity percentile. Bar colour follows the income group legend above.
How to read this chart
Read lower-income countries with caution. Recorded DALY rates reflect diagnostic capacity as much as true prevalence. Countries with weaker health systems detect and code fewer diagnoses, so a low Y position often signals invisible burden rather than absent burden.
Burden is understated globally. GBD models PMOS burden through disability only (no mortality component), and covers direct symptoms such as infertility and hormonal disability. Metabolic, cardiovascular, and mental health consequences are attributed to those GBD categories, not back to PMOS, so the Y axis underestimates true burden for every country shown.
Disease burden: GBD 2021 (IHME) via Yao et al., PLOS ONE 2025. Countries with ≥20 publications 2019–2025. Income groups: World Bank FY2022.
About the data
Full metadata, abstracts, and concepts. 2015–2025 coverage.
NCBI Entrez esummary. Adds articles missing from OpenAlex. 9,999 merged by DOI.
3-tier pipeline (concepts → keywords → Claude Haiku). 99.99% coverage.
Each article splits equally across its topics, so totals sum to article count, not tag count.
Known limitations (7)
- Coverage, language and scope. English search terms under-index non-English and regional journals. Social science and qualitative research on PMOS sits largely out of frame.
- Country reflects author affiliation, not where patients or data come from.
- Topics and research approach are modelled. The underlying mechanisms / symptom / bridging split is an interpretive mapping, not ground truth.
- Funding is undercounted and unpriced. Acknowledgement varies by journal and sector; no monetary amounts are available.
- Disease burden is understated. GBD 2021 omits metabolic, cardiovascular, and mental health consequences of PMOS.
- Comorbidities are co-mentions, not confirmed comorbidities or primary study focus.
- The data is a snapshot. One-time extract, English language only; not continuously updated.