Nursing Intervention in Two Risk Factors of the Metabolic Syndrome, Abdominal Obesity and Arterial Hypertension, and Quality of Life in the Climacteric Period

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Presentation and rationale of the problem During the last decade, health needs have been changing, with a significant increase in the life expectancy of the population in general and with it the increase of non- communicable diseases, which threaten the health and development of people, especially in developing countries, being predicted for the year 2050.

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, killing 41 million people each year, which is equivalent to 71% of deaths worldwide. Specifically, among individuals aged 30-69 years, 15 million die each year from this type of disease and more than 85% of these premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. According to WHO projections, annual deaths from noncommunicable diseases will increase to 55 million by the year 2030, which at an economic level will bring consequently a high cost to the countries of the world, constituting one of the greatest challenges facing health systems.

Because of the context presented and the projected data, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes NCDs as a major obstacle to development, WHO has developed the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013-2020 to address them. This is expected to reduce premature deaths by 33% by 2030 through prevention and treatment of these conditions (target 3.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals).

Regarding cardiovascular diseases, it is mentioned that the risk factors that are closely related to them are: causal (hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and age), predisposing (obesity, sedentary lifestyle, family history, sex and psychosocial factors) and conditional (hypertriglyceridemia, high LDL-oxidized, high prothrombotic factor and microalbuminuria), increasing their suffering.

About predisposing factors, it is necessary to consider that the female population is the most affected by cardiovascular diseases because they have a significantly higher risk of mortality, due to their biological difference as well as the complex interactions of cultural and socioeconomic conditions. In this regard, the researchers must consider that female sex, gender, ethnicity, hormonal changes, onset of menarche, pregnancy, premature birth, presence of pathologies such as gestational hypertension, polycystic ovary and menopause, combined with the epidemiological and demographic transition, which have changed habits and lifestyles, further condition the presence of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the life expectancy of women worldwide has risen considerably and they spend a third or more of their lives after the climacteric period with some risk factor.