Women’s Attitudes and Health Beliefs toward Osteoporosis Screening in a Community Pharmacy

Priyanka Deo,Jigar Rajpura,Rajesh Nayak

doi:10.1155/2013/650136

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine women's attitudes and health beliefs towards osteoporosis screening in a community pharmacy setting, utilizing the theoretical framework of Health Belief Model. A nonexperimental, cross-sectional research design, examining a convenience sample of women aged 18 and over, from several New York City senior care centers, a church, and a university campus in New York, was employed to assess the study objectives. Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale questionnaire was used to study the attitudes and health beliefs of participants towards bone mineral density screening in community pharmacy. From the study, it was observed that perceptions of severity and susceptibility towards osteoporosis and subjects' demographic characteristics did not seem to significantly influence the decision to screen in a community pharmacy setting. The perceptions of benefits of community pharmacy-based osteoporosis screening and the perceived barriers were found to be of greater importance in women's decisions to engage in osteoporosis-specific preventive behavior.

Highlights

Osteoporosis is an asymptomatic skeletal disorder, referred to as the “silent disease.” As a result, people fail to realize having osteoporosis, until a sudden fall or strain causing the bones to fracture or vertebral structure to collapse
The goal of this study was to examine women’s health beliefs regarding osteoporosis and their perceptions related to screening for the disease, in a community pharmacy setting, by utilizing the theoretical framework of Health Belief Model (HBM)
According to NOF, women form the majority of the population suffering from osteoporosis (National Osteoporosis Foundation: About Osteoporosis, 2005); women aged 18 and above, without any prior diagnosis of osteoporosis or on a medication therapy for osteoporosis, were considered eligible to participate in the study

Summary

Introduction

Osteoporosis is an asymptomatic skeletal disorder, referred to as the “silent disease.” As a result, people fail to realize having osteoporosis, until a sudden fall or strain causing the bones to fracture or vertebral structure to collapse. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), osteoporosis poses a major public threat to an estimated 44 million Americans or 55% of the people 50 years of age and older. Osteoporosis results in reduced quality of life, avoidance of social interaction due to low selfesteem, physical pain in activities of daily living, emotional suffering, anxiety regarding the fear of fracture, and depression about being dependent on others (Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General’s Report [3]). The rationale for the use of a BMD testing lies in the assumption that the lower the bone density the greater the risk of osteoporosis-related fracture. Early detection of the risk level for a person can help monitor wear and tear of bones and be instrumental in lowering the incidence of the disease through appropriate lifestyle modifications (diet and exercise) and medication use.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion