Health perception in hypertensive menopausal women

Aim: The aim of study is to find whether the worsening of health perception was related to the hypertensive menopausal (MNP) state or to its negative consequences on cardio metabolic risk factors (CMRF) and the presence of depression/anxiety. Methods: In this study, 683 women, 403 (59%) hypertensive MNP versus 280 hypertensive non-MNP, age 49.4 (±15.9) years, were analyzed. Blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, waist circumference, and depression/anxiety screening using Hamilton Depression rating scale were measured. We collected a blood sample in fasting state for glycemia, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. Results: Regarding the educational level, 22.1% had <5 years of education, 31.3% had between 6 and 7 years, 33.4% had between 8 and 12 years, and 13.2% had >12 years of education. The prevalence of CMRF was significantly higher in hypertensive menopausal women who smoke. We did not find any differences in the prevalence of depression or anxiety between MNP and non-MNP women. Health was perceived as worse among hypertensive menopausal women (P<0.05) and patients over 45 years of age than patients younger than 45 years. We found a relationship between the negative health perception with metabolic syndrome, depression, and anxiety, smoking, and low educational level; nevertheless, it is not correlative with MNP status. Conclusions: Perceived health should be viewed as a multifaceted condition related to social circumstances, and various symptoms in women, including menopause symptoms, but not with MNP state itself.

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