Avaliação da qualidade de vida de mulheres em uso terapia hormonal no climatério

Abstract

Hormone therapy (HT) is the most effective treatment for treating moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms in climacteric women, with potential benefits for quality of life. In this period of women's lives, hormonal dysregulation is expected, which is responsible for the symptoms of hot flushes and vaginal dryness, significantly influencing quality of life. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study with a non-probabilistic convenience sample that sought to assess the quality of life of patients using HT followed up at the climacteric outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Fortaleza-CE. Thirty-five patients were assessed from January 2023 to January 2024, by self- applying quality of life assessment questionnaires retrospectively (via WhatsApp) and an Informed Consent Form (ICF) on Google Forms. The patients were selected in person because they had already been using HT for at least 60 days and were being followed up. In person, data was collected from the anamnesis form. The questionnaires consisted of the patients' demographic variables and the Portuguese version of The Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). The participants were on average 53 years old and had an average body weight of 64kg, with an average height of 1.54m. Only 14.3% had entered higher education and only 11.4% had completed a degree. The majority did not use vaginal estrogen (74.3%) and 70.8% of the of the participants reported practicing some kind of physical activity. The MENQOL paired analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference between all the variables in the questionnaire, before and after starting HT, highlighting the fact that this study opportunistically described the sample of patients followed up at the climacteric outpatient clinic in terms of the prevalence and factors present in the quality-of-life domains relating to this stage of a woman's life. A multidisciplinary team and proper care planning are essential tools for providing better follow-up for these patients.