Dor, estresse e qualidade de vida em mulheres com endometriose : avaliação der um protocolo de intervenção / Pain, stress and life quality in women with endometriosis : evaluation of an intervention protocol

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005

RESUMO

Stress is defined as the organism response to a variety of potentially dangerous stimulus. Pain is able to disturb homeostasis, acting as a physical, chemical and psychological stressor, triggering the stress response. Endometriosis is a pathological condition characterized by chronic pelvic pain that negatively affects the quality of life, and causes chronic stress. Plasma or salivary cortisol levels are considered as indicators of the stress levels. The aim of this work was to evaluate the pain intensity, the stress level and the quality of life in women suffering from chronic pelvic pain associated to endometriosis, as well as to verify whether the intervention protocol practiced at the CAISM - UNICAMP, would result in lower pain and stress levels as well as improved quality of life. Three groups of volunteers were evaluated: healthy women (n=82), women with endometriosis not participating in the CAISM program (n=67) and women with endometriosis enrolled in the CAISM program of psychological and physiotherapeutic intervention (n=26). The pain intensity was quantified by the Visual Analogic Scale, stress was evaluated by the Perceived Stress Questionnaire and the cortisol levels were determined in saliva samples by immunenzimeassay. The quality of life was determined by the Quality of Life Questionary ? short form (QQV SF-36). The women under treatment were evaluated before and after the intervention. The results showed that women suffering from endometriosis presented higher perceived stress and worse quality of life compared to healthy women, and that the salivary cortisol level was lower than those seen in healthy women. After the therapeutic intervention there was a reversion of the hipocortisolism, lowering of the pain intensity and of the perceived stress, and improvement of vitality, one of the aspects included in the QQV SF-36. We concluded that endometriosis and its painful chronic symptoms might cause distress accompanied by poor quality of life in the women here evaluated. Moreover, the hipocortisolism might have dangerous consequences to the homeostasis, so that its reversion obtained through therapeutic complementary actions might benefit those women and should be proposed

ASSUNTO(S)

hydrocortisone dor qualidade de vida stress (fisiologia) hidrocortisona endometriosis pain life quality endometriose stress (physiology)

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