Revista Chilena de Obstetricia y Ginecología (Jan 2011)
Percepción de las mujeres y sus parejas sobre la calidad de vida en el climaterio
Abstract
Objetivo: Determinar si existen diferencias entre la percepción de las mujeres y de sus parejas sobre la calidad de vida relacionada con salud en la etapa de climaterio. Método: Diseño descriptivo y correlacional. Población del estudio integrada por 49 parejas, formadas por mujeres entre 40-60 años y hombres entre 40-65 años de un Centro de Salud de Concepción, Chile. Las parejas fueron entrevistadas en sus hogares previo consentimiento informado. Ambos respondieron de forma independiente el Cuestionario Específico de Calidad de Vida en la Menopausia. Se utilizó estadística descriptiva, índice de Kappa y t de Student. Se consideró como significativo valores de pObjective: To determine if there are differences between women's and their couples' perception of health related quality of life during the climacteric period. Method: Cross-sectional and correlational design. The studied sample consisted of 49 couples, made up of women in a range of 40 to 60 years of age and men in a range of 40 to 65 years of age, enrolled in a Community Health Center in Concepción, Chile. Couples were interviewed in their homes after providing informed consent. Both members answered the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire independently. Descriptive statistics, Kappa and Student-t tests were used, considering p<0.05 as statistically significant. Results: The average age was 50.7 years and 53.2 for women and men, respectively. Most women presented a moderate alteration in their quality of life specifically in their sexual, physical and psychosocial domains, having more deterioration in the sexual and physical domains. Comparing women's scores in the four domains of the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire to their couples' scores, important differences were found in the vasomotor (p<0.05), psycosocial (p<0.01) and physical (p<0.05) domains. The sexual domain was the only one that did not present significant differences between women's and men's perceptions. Conclusion: Women's perception of quality of life related to health during the climacteric period is different from their husband's. The sexual domain is the only exception.
