Prevalencia y gravedad de síntomas de menopausia en mujeres de mediana edad residentes de Lima-Perú

Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms in women attended in a private health institution in the city of Lima. Method: A non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional designed quantitative research approach was used. Participating women were between 40 and 70 years of age and were attended in a private health institution. The Menopause Symptoms Severity Inventory instrument was used to collect the information. It contains 38 symptoms, organized in 12 dimensions, and internal consistency with values between 0.61 and 0.89. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-Square test were applied. Results: The final sample consisted of 775 women with an average age of 52.1 years ± 5.7. 77.2% did not seek medical help and 91.4% did not use hormone therapy. The comparative analysis of frequency and intensity by symptoms showed differences (p≤0.05). Symptoms such as muscle, joint pain, headache, tiredness, and loss of sexual interest presented severely. These correspond to the anxiety, aches and pains, cognitive impairment, and sexual symptoms dimensions. The anxiety and body shape dimensions did not present with significant differences, symptom severity in premenopause was 22.5%, in perimenopause 34% and 41.5% in postmenopause (p=0.003). The total prevalence was 34.8%, being higher in postmenopausal women. Conclusions: Sexual symptoms, cognitive impairment, pain and discomfort presented severely, with a total prevalence of 34.8% and especially affected postmenopausal women.