O impacto do seguimento em um serviço de saúde especializado na qualidade de vida de mulheres vítimas de violência sexual

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how follow-up care in a specialized health service can impact the quality of life of women victims of sexual violence. Based on the analysis, expand and optimize multidisciplinary care provided and develop complementary strategies that can help improve patients' quality of life. METHODOLOGY: Longitudinal observational study with patients over 18 years of age treated at the sexual violence outpatient clinic at Hospital das Clínicas da UFMG (HC-UFMG) between February 2021 and September 2022. To analyze the impact of the service on the quality of life of this population, the WhoQol-bref questionnaire was applied at two different times. The dependent variables were the four domains of the questionnaire (physical, environmental, psychological and social relationships), and the two initial questions about the perception of general quality of life. Covariates included victim age and time between responses. As secondary outcomes, the following were evaluated: legal abortion, psychiatric follow-up and mindfulness- based intervention groups (MBI). To compare the variables at both times, the Wilcoxon Test was used. Statistical analyzes were performed using R software. RESULTS: Among 60 women included in the study, 17 answered the questionnaire for the second time (loss of follow-up 71,7%). The age density of the participants was concentrated between 20 and 35 years old. Legal abortion was performed by 45% of patients, 60% underwent psychiatric follow-up and 18,4% participated in MBI groups. There was a specific increase in the mean of all domains of the WhoQoL-bref and in the average of the domains, but a statistically significant change was detected only in the median of the Physical domain and the overall score (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Due to ethical and care limitations for the studied population, it was not possible to monitor a control group to differentiate the effects of the care protocol in the specialized service within the proposed time. Considering a statistically significant increase in the median of the physical domain, studies with a larger number of patients can provide more comprehensive information. The increase in the average scores of all domains demonstrates the trend towards a positive impact of outpatient monitoring on patients' quality of life.