[Health education: repercussions of a self-help program on the psychological status of perimenopausal women]

To establish the effect caused by a self-help programme for climacteric and menopause on the psychological state of women of menopausal age.

A semi-experimental study with a comparison group.

Primary Care.

106 women between 45 and 60, users of Albacete's Area IV Health Centre, of whom 53 were in the intervention group and the other 53 in the control group. Intervention. This consisted of developing an educational programme on the changes occurring in middle-aged women (biological, psychological and social), which included exercises in body movement, relaxation and group discussions. The intervention, aimed at groups of 8 to 10 women, was performed by 4 female nurses in 10 weekly hour-long sessions.

The participants were interviewed and information was gathered on their functional ability, medicine consumption, frequency of attendance, and their social and demographic data. Their psychological well-being was assessed through the Goldberg Health questionnaire before and after the intervention. At the start, 62 women (70.5%) presented a probable mental disorder, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Circumstances such as lower social class, having family members to look after, greater use of consultations, greater consumption of medicines and more functional disability were linked to a higher prevalence of psychological malaise. After the intervention, 82.5% of the women in the control group had probable psychological disorders, but only 8.3% of those in the intervention group. The difference was statistically highly significant (P < 0.00001; RR = 9.9; 95% Cl, 3.8-25.3).

Self-help programmes have a favourable impact on the psychological state of menopausal women. They may be particularly justified when there are circumstances linked to greater prevalence of mental disorders. The results show that educational programmes are very useful in the Primary Care setting.