PURPOSE: to evaluate climacteric symptoms and related factors in women living in rural and urban areas of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. METHODS: a cross-sectional study involving 261 women in the climacteric was performed. A total of 130 women from Natal and Mossoró (urban group) and 131 from Uruaçu, in São Gonçalo do Amarante (rural group), were studied. Climacteric symptoms were assessed by the Blatt-Kupperman Menopausal Index (BKMI) and Greene Climacteric Scale (GCE). Statistical analysis involved comparison of median between groups and logistic regression analysis. Patients were defined as "very symptomatic" when the climacteric score was >20 for both questionnaires (dependent variable). Independent variables were: age, living area, schooling, obesity and physical activity. RESULTS: the urban group had significantly higher scores than those of the rural group, both for BKMI (median of 26.0 and 17.0, respectively; p<0.0001) and for GCE (median of 27.0 and 16.0, respectively; p<0.0001). For the entire sample, a total of 56.3% (n=147) of the women were classified as "very symptomatic". This prevalence was significantly higher in urban than in rural women (79.2 and 33.6%, respectively; p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of belonging to the group defined as "very symptomatic" was greater for urban women [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=7.1; confidence interval at 95% (95%CI)=3.69-13.66] who were literate (OR=2.19; 95%CI=1.16-4.13). Individuals over the age of 60 years had less chance of having significant symptoms (OR=0.38; 95%CI=0.17-0.87). CONCLUSIONS: the prevalence of significant climacteric symptoms is less in women from a rural environment, showing that sociocultural and environmental factors are strongly related to the appearance of climacteric symptoms in our population.
Menopause; Climacteric; Urban population; Rural population
