Knowledge and awareness about osteoporosis and its related factors among rural Turkish women

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the awareness, perception, sources of information, and knowledge of osteoporosis in a sample of rural Turkish women, to examine the factors related to their knowledge, and organize effective education programs. A total of 768 women mean age 53.6 +/- 8.2 (40-70) were randomly selected and interviewed during their visits to primary care centers in three rural towns in West Anatolia. A structured questionnaire was administered by trained nurses. Chi-squared test was performed in age and educational level groups for revealing factors influencing the awareness, perception, and knowledge sources of osteoporosis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis was carried out in calculating the difference of knowledge scores among groups. Of the women, 60.8% had heard of and 44.9% had the correct definition for osteoporosis. Awareness and accurate definition of osteoporosis was high in younger and high educated women (p < 0.001). Television was the main source of knowledge with the rate of 55%, doctors and nurses/midwives were the second and third sources, respectively. Osteoporosis knowledge was low with a mean score of 5.52 out of 20. Younger and more educated women had higher knowledge scores. Low calcium in diet and menopause were the first two risk factors chosen for osteoporosis. Knowledge about osteoporosis among rural Turkish women is low, and majority of women are unaware of the risk factors and consequences of osteoporosis. Therefore, appropriate educational programs should be planned according to community needs, and the target of these programs should be less educated and older women.

Osteoporosis Knowledge among Female Adolescents in Egypt

“…The purpose of this study was to assess osteoporosis knowledge among female adolescents students in secondary school in El-Minia, Egypt. The present study revealed that more than one third of the participants had known the meaning of osteoporosis, the same results were obtained from the Turkish women by Gemalmas & Oge (2008) [21] and also from Taiwan young adult women by Chang (2006-b) [22]. On the other hand higher proportions were obtained by Alexandraki et al (2007) [20] and Yeab et al (2010) [23], who conducted their studies in Malaysia and Greece respectively.…”

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“…Low calcium in diet and menopause were the first two risk factors chosen by participants and the majority of them were unaware of the actual risk factors and consequences for osteoporosis. 3 An Iranian household survey 2007 found that 80 % of participants heard about osteoporosis, 51% confirmed that consuming corticosteroids is a risk factor for osteoporosis, however only 3.8% had knowledge about the adequate consumption of calcium. 4 Another hospitalbased cross-sectional study also conducted in Tehran in 2007, revealed that 15 to 30% of participants didn't know what osteoporosis is.…”

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“…Gemalmaz and Oge (9) documented that knowledge and awareness regarding osteoporosis among rural Turkish women were low, particularly in the older age groups. Another study regarding the knowledge of osteoporosis in Turkish patients documented that only 54% of the patients undergoing treatment were aware of their disease (10).…”