Set - Out - English

evaluate

quality

life

overweight

and

obese

women

during

climacterium

ssoc

ras

2014; 60(5):484-489

487

life circumstances, should be included; i.e., occupational,

sexual, emotional and health-related factors.

Schneider

et al.

argues that the instrument must have certain attri-

butes or properties of measures suitable for a particular

purpose. Specific questionnaires are more sensitive to

change and make sense for both the physician and pa-

tient, since the items included report highly relevant do-

mains to that particular population.

The varied use of questionnaires can be justified by

the researcher’s choice for the most widely used instru-

ments such as the SF-36 and also the preference of cer-

tain authors to use surveys created in the language and

targeted to the cultural context of the study popula-

tion.

The predilection for generic tools found in the ar-

ticles used in this review fails to analyze important cha-

racteristics of the study population, given the peculiarities

of both the period of transition to menopause and post-

-menopause and obesity. Therefore, assessment of the qua-

lity of life of these women was hindered.

onclusion

The most widely used instrument for assessing quality of

life in obese women in transition to menopause and post-

-menopause was the generic SF-36 questionnaire. The Cer-

vantes Scale was the specific instrument most used. The-

re was no consensus regarding the use of the instruments,

which is an obstacle for comparison and reproducibility

of results. The current study is a warning to researchers

that there is a need for a standard instrument to assess

this growing population.

esumo

Como aferir qualidade de vida de mulheres com sobrepe-

so e obesidade no climatério?

Objetivo:

identificar os instrumentos utilizados para afe-

rir a qualidade de vida de mulheres com sobrepeso e obe-

sidade no climatério (transição para menopausa e pós-

-menopausa).

Métodos:

busca sistemática nas bases de dados Embase,

Pubmed e Cochrane com os descritores:

menopause/climac-

teric, quality of life, overweight/obesity

. Foram incluídos 19

artigos que preencheram os critérios de inclusão.

Resultados:

foram identificados 18 questionários gené-

ricos (qualidade de vida global), 6 específicos para meno-

pausa e 1 específico para obesidade. Onze estudos utili-

zaram instrumentos genéricos, enquanto 8 utilizaram

específicos para menopausa.

Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial.

Therefore, the

article used its own instrument, unlike those classically

found in the literature, which demonstrates the lack of

standardization in the literature.

Eight of the nineteen studies used specific question-

naires for menopause.

9,33-39

The Cervantes Scale was the

most prevalent, found in three of them.

34-36

The instrument

was developed in Spanish, mainly for use in this popula-

tion, and translated into Portuguese, despite being valida-

ted in a limited number of countries.

In these three stu-

dies, two were conducted by the same author (Llaneza et

al.

, making it difficult to generalize the results.

35,36

Alon-

so et al.

used the Kupperman Index, according to the data

found in the literature about its widespread use, even with

criticism for not addressing urogenital, social and other

symptoms related to sexuality.

9,43-45

Mirzaiinjmabadi et al.

used the Greene Scale, a list of 21 items including psycho-

logical, vasomotor and somatic symptoms, which was not

exactly designed as an instrument of quality of life.

21,39

The

other specific questionnaires were: Menopause Rating Sca-

le (MRS), Women’s Health Questionnaire (WHQ) and Me-

nopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MEN-

QOL), which have already been validated and are the main

scales currently used in studies on women in transition to

menopause and post-menopause.

33,37,38,43,46,47

In Brazil, only

WHQ, MENQOL and Cervantes Scale were validated; Gree-

ne Scale has been used for many years, and MRS is being

used even without validation.

Lemoine et al.

was the only author who used a spe-

cific questionnaire for obesity, the Three-Factor Eating

Questionnaire, which is related to psychological well-be-

ing. Thus, it is important to assess the need to use speci-

fic questionnaires for obesity since the population in ques-

tion is also subject to the effects of obesity as a

comorbidity on quality of life.

There is no consensus as to the best type of instru-

ment to be used to assess quality of life. Fayers et al.

be-

lieves that both generic and specific measures have ad-

vantages and disadvantages. He recommends the use of

generic and specific instruments wherever possible, in

combination, to give strength to both approaches.

the other hand, many researchers prefer to use specific

questionnaires to assess a certain condition. Chedraui et

al.

states that specific instruments are required in each

condition, and menopause, or climacterium, is not an ex-

ception.

Utian

believes that in order to evaluate the

quality of life of women in transition to menopause and

post-menopause, somatic symptoms such as hot flashes,

night sweats, genital atrophy and urinary incontinence,

and psychological symptoms such as mood swings and