Climacteric complaints among very low-income women from a tropical region of Brazil

• Main Authors: Sebastião Freitas de Medeiros, Márcia Marly Winck Yamamoto de Medeiros, Vivaldo Naves de Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Paulista de Medicina
• Series: São Paulo Medical Journal
• Subjects: Climacteric; Social class; Hot flashes; Culture; Tropical climate
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802006000400008&lng=en&tlng=en

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Climacteric symptoms may vary between different countries and cultures. Socioeconomic factors and climate may be implicated. The aim of this study was to identify climacteric symptomatology among very low-income Brazilian women, living in a hot and humid region. DESIGN AND SETTING: This cross-sectional population-based study was conducted in Cuiabá, at Júlio Müller University Hospital, a tertiary institution. METHODS: The study enrolled 354 climacteric women. The variables analyzed were social class, symptomatology and abnormal concurrent conditions. The study was approved by the hospital's research ethics committee. RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of the participants (232/354) were very poor and had had little schooling. The number of symptoms per woman was 8.0 ± 5.7. Hot flushes, nervousness, forgetfulness and fatigue were each found in nearly 60.0%. Tearfulness, depression, melancholy and insomnia were also frequent. Sexual problems were reported by 25%. The most relevant concurrent abnormal conditions reported were hypertension (33.9%), obesity (26.5%), arthritis/arthrosis (15.0%) and diabetes mellitus (9.6%). Hot flushes were associated with tearfulness, nervousness and forgetfulness. CONCLUSION: Brazilian climacteric women of low income and low schooling present multiple symptoms. Vasomotor and psychosexual symptoms were the most prevalent disorders. Hot flushes were associated with nervousness, forgetfulness and tearfulness.