Set - Out - English

unhoz

486

ssoc

ras

2014; 60(5):484-489

Twenty-four questionnaires were identified in nine-

teen articles (Table 2). The instruments found were divi-

ded into generic, assessing overall quality of life in any

population; specific, for quality of life in women during

transition to menopause and post-menopause; and res-

tricted, for psychosocial aspects of quality of life.

Table 2

List of assessment tools for quality of life used

in overweight and obese women in transition to

menopause and post-menopause, identifying the type of

instrument, frequency of use, and year of use

Instrument

Type Frequency Year

World Health Organization

five-item well-being index

(WHO-5)

EPS 1

2013

Menopause Rating Scale

(MRS)

EM 1

2012

SF-36

G 6

2011, 2010, 2010,

2008, 2007, 1999

Brief Symptom Inventory-18 EPS 1

2011

Social Support Survey

EPS 1

2011

SF-12

G 1

2011

Perceived Stress Scale

EPS 2

2008, 2011

Items taken from

instruments used in the

WHI trial

EPS 1

2010

Kupperman Index

EM 1

2010

EuroQol 5-D

G 1

2009

Rosenberg Global

Self-Esteem Scale

EPS 1

2009

Cervantes Scale

EM 3

2009, 2009, 2007

Medical Outcomes Study

General Health Survey

(MOS)

G 2

2009, 2008

Self- Esteem Scale

EPS 1

2008

Body-Esteem Scale

EPS 1

2008

Scale of perceived risk for

developing heart disease or

diabetes

EPS 1

2008

Three-Factor Eating

Questionnaire

EPS 1

2007

Women’s Health

Questionnaire (WHQ)

EM 1

2007

MENQOL

EM 1

2007

Greene Scale

EM 1

2006

Beck Depression Inventory EPS 1

1999

Spielberg Trait Anger/

Anxiety Questionnaire

EPS 1

1999

Scale for Distress

EPS 1

1999

Interpersonal Support

Evaluation List (ISEL)

EPS 1

1999

G: generic quality of life instrument; EM: specific instrument for quality of life in the transition

to menopause and post-menopause; EPS: specific instrument for psychosocial aspects of qua-

lity of life.

Four different instruments were identified to assess overall

quality of life. For specific analysis of quality of life related

to the climacteric period, six different questionnaires were

used. Most instruments found (fourteen) aimed to quanti-

fy the quality of life related to psychosocial aspects.

The SF-36 was observed more frequently, being used

in six articles published from 1999 to 2011. The second

most frequently found was the Cervantes Scale, seen in

three articles, two published by a single group of resear-

chers (Lhaneza et al.

35,36

). The Medical Outcome Study

General Health Survey (MOS) was used in two articles,

and the other questionnaires in one study only.

Six studies used more than one instrument to mea-

sure quality of life. Eight studies used specific question-

naires for menopause, while 11 used generic questionnai-

res, combined or not with instruments for psychosocial

analysis.

iscussion

The nineteen studies obtained used twenty-four different

scales. Eleven used generic questionnaires,

22-32

while eight

employed specific instruments to assess quality of life in wo-

men before and after menopause.

9,33-39

A single article made

reference to a specific questionnaire related to obesity.

The SF-36 and Medical Outcomes Study General

Health Survey (MOS) questionnaires, which are derived

from the same study, were the most prevalent generic

tools, being found in eight articles.

23,25,26,28-32

The SF-36

was the most widely adopted, being found in six arti-

cles,

23,25,26,30-32

which is consistent with the literature, sin-

ce it is the most widely used generic instrument docu-

mented in over four hundred publications.

40,41

However,

none of these questionnaires takes into consideration im-

portant aspects such as menopausal symptoms or speci-

fic psychosocial conditions regarding this time of life,

which hinders the assessment of quality of life in this po-

pulation. The social psychological aspect was measured

by fourteen different scales covering aspects of emotio-

nal health and the social structure in which the indivi-

dual lives, which affect the quality of life. Six articles used

generic instruments combined with psychosocial ques-

tionnaires, showing that the use of generic instruments

may fail to take into account important aspects of qua-

lity of life in the period close to menopause.

23,25,27,29,31,32

Ashok et al.

used the World Health Organization fi-

ve-item well-being index (WHO-5) well-being question-

naire, which assesses psychological and not physical di-

mensions related to menopause.

Lynch et al.

used the

SF-36 together with a questionnaire to determine psycho-

social quality of life created from instruments used in the