Subjective well-being's alterations as risk factors for major depressive disorder during the perimenopause onset: an analytical cross-sectional study amongst Mexican women residing in Guadalajara, Jalisco

BACKGROUND

Subjective well-being (SWB) can be defined as a self-report evaluation that reflects the satisfaction, and emotional level, over several social and personal indicators. Alterations in these indicators could become risk factors (RF) for major depressive disorder (MDD), but this association has not been studied at women's life stages such as the perimenopause onset, despite its increasing prevalence for depressive symptomatology. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify if SWB's alterations determine RF for MDD during the perimenopause.

METHODS

An analytical cross-sectional study was realized in 252 Mexican women with perimenopause's age range (48 ± 1.7) and menopausal symptomatology, treated on Medical Units belonging to Jalisco's 13th Health-Region. We applied the INEGI's Basic Self-Reported Wellbeing Survey (BIARE) that measured 30 SWB's indicators. To identify MDD's presence, the Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was applied. The sample was studied with associative analysis, along with logistic regression models, to determine adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

RESULTS

Trough the BDI-II we identified 40.5% women with MDD. When compared with the undepressed group we found lower scores in all the SWB's indicators, along with significant associations for depressive symptomatology. However, the logistic regression allowed us to identify significant RF when the women specifically reported personal life-dissatisfaction (aOR 9.6, 95% CI 1.90-17.68), emotional imbalances between happiness/sadness (aOR 7.1, 95% CI 1.49-13.57) and concentration/boredom (aOR 6.7, 95% CI 1.43-13.48); free-time dissatisfaction (aOR 5.5, 95% CI 1.17-5.70), public security unconformity (aOR 5.4, 95% CI 2.20-11.3), and sense of purposelessness (aOR 4.2, 95% CI 1.07-19.41).

CONCLUSION

The main objective of the study was to determine if SWB's alterations are RF for depressive symptomatology, finding that social indicators with low scores are associated with MDD by means of aOR -Which were higher when compared to international research studies. Considering this, we suggest that more studies should be implemented, in order to understand and correctly attend the women's social conditions during their perimenopause transition.

The effectiveness of emotional freedom techniques (EFT) on depression of postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES

Postmenopausal women are at greater risk of depression. Depression may negatively affect the quality of life of women. An emotional freedom technique (EFT) is an evidence-based therapy combining cognitive and exposure components with acupressure. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of EFT on depression in postmenopausal women.

METHODS

This was a randomized controlled trial in which 88 women with mild to moderate depression recruited from a menopausal clinic in Ahvaz, Iran, and randomly assigned into two groups of EFT (n=44) and control for sham therapy (n=44). Women in the EFT group received two sessions of training and asked to continue EFT for 8 weeks, one time per day. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI2) completed by women before and after the intervention. The control group received training on sham acupressure points similar to the intervention group. Data collected using a demographic and BDI2. Women requested to complete the BDI2 before and after the intervention. The independent t-test, chi-square, and ANCOVA were used to analyze data.

RESULTS

The mean depression score in the intervention group reduced from 20.93 ± 4.6 to 10.96 ± 4.38 in comparison to the control group that reduced from 19.18 ± 2.79 to 17.01 ± 6.05 after intervention (p=0.001). After the 8 week intervention, the frequency of moderate depression decreased from 56.8 to 9.35% in the intervention and from 50 to 29.5% in the control group. In total, 63.4 and 34.15% in the intervention and control groups were free of depression respectively after the intervention (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study showed that using EFT for 8 weeks could significantly reduce the mean score of depression in postmenopausal women. Using this method in public health centers for postmenopausal women is recommended.