Dor, qualidade de vida e depressão em mulheres climatéricas adscritas a uma Unidade Básica de Saúde do município de São Paulo

Abstract

Women are the majority of the Brazilian population and the main users of SUS -Unified Health System. The climacteric is defined as a biological stage of life and not as a pathological process, and comprises the transition between the reproductive and the non-productive period of women s life. It corresponds to the decline of the ovarian function and is characterized by a progressive state of hypoestrogenism, to which a set of multi-organic manifestations affecting women`s health and life in short, medium or long term, is related. The climacteric symptoms involve nocturnal sweating, hot flushes, insomnia, musculoskeletal pain, vaginal dryness, osteoporosis, increase of cardiovascular diseases, emotional lability, irritability, jitters, and depression. In addition to the physical and biological alterations, the socio, economic, and cultural context plays a fundamental role in this transition stage. The average menopausal age is around 51 years, with the gradual increase of the average life expectation reaching 77 years, Brazilian women will live one third of their lives in post-menopause. Currently, about 32% of Brazilian women are in the climacteric stage. The primary attention is the adequate level of attention to meet most of the health needs of climacteric women. In face of, the first study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in climacteric women registered in a Mixed Unity of Health in a low income community in the south of the city of São Paulo. From women participating, 93.55% complained of musculoskeletal pains, and the average of pain in the analogical visual scale is 6.88 (±3.03). Pain is also an element sub-notified by the primary care in Brazil, as they are not specifically registered in the Basic Health Unit. Primary care is responsible to conduct proactive actions in face of the health-disease problems of the population, and to develop activities based on the situational diagnosis. This high rate of pain evidences the needs of women in this stage and the subsequent planning of activities purposed to meet such needs. Taking into account this result, the second study was conducted. The objectives were (1) evaluate the quality of life; (2) evaluate the presence and intensity of climacteric manifestations; (3) evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms in this population. The quality of life of these women had a strong negative impact, especially on the physical component domain. The psychological symptoms were the most prevalent manifestations. With an average of 7.29 (±4,26) in the Menopause Rating Scale, depression was significantly related with the decreased quality of life and the increased symptoms regarding this stage. Although it`s difficult to say that such symptoms are exclusively related to the climacteric, this study provides a situational diagnosis of a population of economically active women living a critical period for the occurrence of musculoskeletal pains, negative impact on the quality of life, and depression. The early detection of symptoms in primary care will determine efficient preventive actions and therapeutic strategies. The use of specific instruments to evaluate the individual complaints helps diagnosing the actual needs, thus producing a more accurate epidemiological survey and a better multidisciplinary clinical management.