title: Climacteric Symptoms and Sexual Dysfunction: Association between the Blatt-Kupperman Index and the Female Sexual Function Index.
abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the association between the intensity of climacteric symptoms and sexual dysfunction in women aged 40 to 65 years.MethodsObservational, analytic, cross-sectional study conducted with 63 women aged 40 to 65 treated at the gynecology outpatient clinic of a public hospital in northeastern Brazil. A questionnaire was used to collect identification data, clinical information, gynecological-obstetric data, lifestyle traits and information on chronic diseases. Climacteric symptoms and sexual function were evaluated by means of the Blatt-Kupperman index and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) respectively. The association between the two indices was investigated using the chi-squared test; the difference in mean scores on the FSFI as a function of menopausal status was evaluated by Student'st-test. The significance level was set top< 0.05.ResultsThe mean value of the Blatt-Kupperman index was 26.42 (standard deviation [SD]: 4.52); 36.51% of the women exhibited severe symptoms. The mean score on the FSFI was 21.84 (SD: 4.11). More than half of the analyzed women (58.73%) exhibited sexual dysfunction (FSFI ≤ 26.5). Regarding the association between the Blatt-Kupperman index and the FSFI, the greater the intensity of the climacteric symptoms (Blatt-Kupperman), the higher the frequency of sexual dysfunction (FSFI). Sexual dysfunction was exhibited by 100% of the participants with severe climacteric symptoms, 70.59% of those with moderate symptoms, and only 9.09% with mild symptoms (p< 0.001).ConclusionsThe application of the Blatt-Kupperman index and of the FSFI allowed the detection of an association between the severity of climacteric symptoms and the prevalence of sexual dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Ceuma - Campus Renascença, São Luiz, MA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emanuela Fonseca
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luiz, MA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vinícius José da Silva
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Nina
authors.affiliation: Universidade Ceuma - Campus Renascença, São Luiz, MA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Durans
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Figuerêdo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002979:Climacteric; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D063189:Symptom Assessment