Psychological symptoms in climacteric women with heart disease

Abstract

Objective: to investigate psychological climacteric symptoms in women with heart disease. Method: a quantitative study, carried out at a University Hospital in the Northeast of Brazil, from October 2016 to January 2017. A total of 221 climacteric women with heart disease were interviewed at the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed, association with the non-parametric Chi-square test of independence (χ2) and Spearman’s correlation test, with the use of the SPSS Statistics 20 program. Results: there was a predominance of very intense climacteric symptoms such as anguish/anxiety, 75 (33.9%); physical and mental exhaustion, 61 (27.6%); depressed mood, 54 (24.4%); nervousness, 59 (26.7%); and insomnia, 45 (20.4%). There were significant associations among the psychological climacteric symptoms and between the psychological symptoms and depression. Conclusion: psychological climacteric symptoms appear to make women more prone to emotional disorders, aggravated by the existence of a chronic disease such as cardiopathy.