Knowledge and perception of women at risk for osteoporosis: Educational intervention

Abstract

Background Women’s awareness and perceptions about risk for osteoporosis must increase and should be the priority in the future through educational programs. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of educational intervention on the knowledge and perception of women at risk for osteoporosis. Patients and methods The study was conducted in the outpatient clinics (Antenatal Outpatient Clinic and Orthopedic Clinic) affiliated to Ain Shams University Hospitals. The purposive sample included 60 women above 35 years of age. Three tools were used before educational intervention, after educational intervention, and after 8 weeks of educational intervention. First, an interviewing questionnaire sheet was used, which included three parts: part I, sociodemographic data and obstetric history; part II, predisposing factors of osteoporosis; and part III, women’s knowledge about osteoporosis. Second, a perception questionnaire sheet was used to measure the level of women’s health beliefs as regards osteoporosis. Third, women’s complaint tool was used to measure the studied women’s complaints of preclimacteric symptoms. Results In total, 83.3% of the studied women had dental problems and women with galactorrhea represented 15%; 10% of the studied women had a family history of hip fracture in the elderly. In total, 8.3% of the studied women had been using cortisone for more than 6 months and 3.3% were smokers and suffered from weight loss. There were statistically significant differences as regards their knowledge after application of program. Significant differences were detected as regards benefits of exercise and susceptibility to disease occurrence from 0% and 30% before intervention to 90% after intervention. However, there were percentage changes from 10 to 95% as regards seriousness of disease development and benefits of Ca+ intake. Moreover, there were changes in health motivation from 20 to 100%. There was improvement as regards psychological symptoms and miscellaneous complaints. There were correlations among total knowledge, perception, and their complaints. Conclusion The current study supports the first hypothesis by significantly improving the level of the studied women’s knowledge and perception, and the second hypothesis. As regards women’s complaints of preclimacteric symptoms, the results revealed significantly decreasing psychological problems and miscellaneous complaints. Moreover, there was a positive correlation among knowledge, perception, and their complaints as regards osteoporosis. Recommendations Illustrated booklet about osteoporosis must be available in outpatient clinics and brochures on phytoestrogen-rich diet should be available for each woman.