Prevalência de sintomas e risco cardiovascular em mulheres na transição menopáusica de um município de Sergipe, Brasil

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to delineate the profile of climacteric women in a Brazilian northeast municipality, to characterize the prevalence and severity of climacteric symptoms, to evaluate the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, and to compare these parameters among women living in urban areas and in the countryside. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which a sociodemographic questionnaire was applied, with questions about cardiovascular risk factors, as well as the menopausal evaluation scale. Results: We interviewed 114 rural women and 88 urban women, mean age 53 (± 5.92) years. The majority said that they lived with a partner (63.8%), were of brown race (56.9%), low family income (90.1%), low schooling (73.8%), ), non-smokers (63.9%), menarche between 10 and 15 years of age (67.3%), menopause (58.4%), gestated 3 to 5 times (50.0%), overweight (65.8%), with increased abdominal circumference (82.6%) and low cardiovascular risk (40.1%). The prevalence of symptoms according to the menopausal evaluation scale was 89.4%, classified as moderate according to the total mean score 15.14 ± 8.14 and for the domains surveyed, the severity was higher in the psychological (1.82 ± 1.50), followed by the physical (1.48 ± 1.52) and urogenital (0.75 ± 1.32). The most prevalent and severe symptoms in urban women were vaginal dryness (73.8%) and anxiety (2.40 ± 1.49) and bladder problems (79.4%) and muscular and joint problems (2, 13 ± 1,59), respectively, and the mean of the total score obtained was lower in the latter group (14.5 ± 7.9 versus 16.1 ± 8.39). Conclusion: It was observed that the prevalence of climacteric symptoms was higher than in other studies and were classified as moderate intensity, more severe in the psychological domain than in the physical and urogenital. It is also noted that women living in the urban area presented higher scores than women in the urban zone, but lower cardiovascular risk than those, which demonstrates the heterogeneity of populations and the variation of complaints, mainly due to the personal and external factors that are implied in the climacteric.