BACKGROUND: Climacteric syndrome accompanies the menopause and it has been studied in different cultures, with different results among them. OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences in the presentation of the climacteric syndrome among urban and rural women. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A transverse, study was carried out, in which climacteric symptoms were evaluated with the previously validated modified SUMEVA scale in two groups of perimenopausal women. Group 1, indigenous Zapotec spoken women from San Ildefonso Villa Alta, Oaxaca. Group 2, women from Mexico City that attended the gynecologic endocrinology consultation of the UMAE Hospital of Ginecobstetricia "Luis Castelazo Ayala". STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Central tendency and dispersion measurements were done. The comparison among the groups for continuous variables was carried out by Student t-test and for those discontinuous chi2. RESULTS: The mean score of the SUMEVA scale was 42.3 +/- 31.2 for the rural women and 63.7 +/- 48.6 for Mexico's city women (p < 0.04). When symptoms were separately analyzed, they were significantly more intense in those women from Mexico City. CONCLUSION: Perimenopausal women from Mexico City have more intense climacteric symptoms than those rural. This can be influenced due to way of life in western culture.
BACKGROUND: Climacteric syndrome accompanies the menopause and it has been studied in different cultures, with different results among them. OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences in the presentation of the climacteric syndrome among urban and rural women. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A transverse, study was carried out, in which climacteric symptoms were evaluated with the previously validated modified SUMEVA scale in two groups of perimenopausal women. Group 1, indigenous Zapotec spoken women from San Ildefonso Villa Alta, Oaxaca. Group 2, women from Mexico City that attended the gynecologic endocrinology consultation of the UMAE Hospital of Ginecobstetricia "Luis Castelazo Ayala". STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Central tendency and dispersion measurements were done. The comparison among the groups for continuous variables was carried out by Student t-test and for those discontinuous chi2. RESULTS: The mean score of the SUMEVA scale was 42.3 +/- 31.2 for the rural women and 63.7 +/- 48.6 for Mexico's city women (p < 0.04). When symptoms were separately analyzed, they were significantly more intense in those women from Mexico City. CONCLUSION: Perimenopausal women from Mexico City have more intense climacteric symptoms than those rural. This can be influenced due to way of life in western culture.