FATORES ASSOCIADOS A DISFUNÇÕES SEXUAIS NO CLIMATÉRIO

Female Dexual Dysfunction (FSD) is a public health problem of high global prevalence, reported by about40% of all women in the world. The climacteric comprises the transition between the reproductive and non reproductive periods of woman’s life, being a biological phase and not a pathological process (BRASIL, 2008). In this phase, women become more vulnerable to sexual dysfunction due to the consequences of hypoestrogenism (Cabral et al., 2012; Cavalcanti et al., 2014; Crowley, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to understand the climacteric and the changes that happen in this period of the woman’s life, including sexual function, since with the increase in life expectancy, there is also an increase in the number of years lived in the climacteric. Objective: verify if there is a difference in the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and in the sexual domain scores according to menopausal status and evaluate which climacteric symptoms are more prevalent in women with sexual dysfunction. Methodology: a cross-sectional study with 84 women between the ages of 18 and 68, sexually active. Age, marital status, education, income, menopausal status and smoking were accessed. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was applied to the entire sample and theMenopause Rating Scale (MRS) to the postmenopausal women. Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used to evaluate categorical variables, the significance level adopted was 5%, and R Core Team 2018 software was used. Results: the overall prevalence of sexual dysfunction (FSFI ≤ 26,5) was 42.9%. According to the menopausal state, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of sexual dysfunction (37,9 and 53,8%, p = 0,234), but there was a significant difference in the areas of lubrication (5,1 e 3,9 p = 0,003 e D = 0,750) and excitation (3,3 e 2,7 p = 0,006 e D=0,673). In the postmenopausal group, sexual dysfunction was seen in 50% of women with severe climacteric symptoms. Higher frequency of dysfunction was associated with somatovegetative symptoms (92,9%, 50%, p = 0,036) and urogenital symptoms (92,9%, 58,3%, p = 0.018). Conclusions: the prevalence of sexual dysfunction was high, there was no difference in prevalence according to menopausal status and severe climacteric symptoms, particularly somatovegetative and urogenital, were associated with worse sexual function.