[Validation of a questionnaire for measurement of beliefs about the climacteric].
OBJECTIVE
To design an instrument for measuring beliefs about the social, psychological, and physiological consequences of women's climacteric stage.


METHODS
The study included 340 women affiliated to Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales para los Trabajadores del Estado (Institute for Social Services and Security for State Workers, ISSSTE) (age mean = 49.46, (SD 7.92). The mean number of pregnancies in the sample was 3.75 (SD 2.57), and the mean number of born children was 3.21 (SD 2.19); 48% of women were premenopausal, 10.9% perimenopausal, and 40.6% postmenopausal. The instrument consisted of 25 items.


RESULTS
A factorial analysis with Varimax rotation was carried out. Four factors were confirmed: disadvantages (alpha = 0.769), advantages (alpha = 0.839), physiological (alpha = 0.659), and psychological (alpha = 0.711).


CONCLUSIONS
This instrument shows good internal consistency, and measures four climacteric belief groups: a) beliefs on disadvantages, b) beliefs on advantages, c) beliefs on physiological ailments, and d) beliefs on psychological symptoms. All three confirmed dimensions of the climacteric phase have been proposed in other studies.
Chávez-Ayala
Rubén
R
CISP, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Avenida Universidad 655, colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62508, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. xanath_music@hotmail.com
Andrade-Palos
Patricia
P
Rivera-Rivera
Leonor
L
D000328:Adult; D002979:Climacteric / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000523:psychology; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000523:psychology; D017697:Premenopause / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires