Perception of climacteric women in relation to sexuality, prevention of Sexually Transmitted diseases and quality of care by health professionals

Abstract

Introduction: The climacteric phase, in addition to presenting several physiological changes due to the decline of hormonal concentrations that interfere with quality of life, sexuality and self perception, still carry the prejudices and taboos created by society. Objective: To identify the perception of women in the climacteric phase regarding the symptoms presented, their sexuality, the use of condoms for the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the quality of care provided by health professionals in this phase. Methodology: This is a descriptive research with qualitative analysis, which included 15 women aged from 40 to 65 years in conditions of communication. For data collection, a recorded audio interview was conducted with the guiding question: “How do you feel at this stage of life regarding your sexuality, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the assistance of health professionals?”. The Technique of Discourse of the Collective Subject was used to analyze the data, aiming to give light to the set of semantic individualities of the social imaginary. Results: From the 15 interviews, it was possible to identify 11 central ideas and 11 discourses. Climacteric women in the 54 to 63-year age range; 98% use condoms; 94% have been sexually active and with partners for more than 10 years. Final considerations: It was noticed that the part of the objective that contemplated the quality of care provided by health professionals was inconclusive. Therefore, we did not obtain an end result for this topic, because it is understood as a more comprehensive aspect.