Knowledge about osteoporosis in a cohort of Polish females: the influence of age, level of education and personal experiences

Abstract

In this study, a group of 1065 women aged 16–72 years recruited from patients attending general practitioners was studied to investigate knowledge of osteoporosis and attitude towards methods of preventing the disease. The interviews were carried out by students of the Silesian School of Medicine, using a structured questionnaire. The average number of correct answers in the whole population was 7.05, and in women with established osteoporosis 6.89. In the whole population, the majority of answers were correct and ranged from 60% to 95% in seven out of ten questions. The answers for three questions were incorrect in about half or more of the cohort: 53% of subjects considered that osteoporosis could be cured; for 50% of women osteoporosis is a minor health problem (except for the youngest women and women with university education—74% and 69% of correct answers, respectively); and 58% of women considered that those with osteoporosis should not engage in physical activity due to the risk of falling and causing a fracture. A simple chi-squared test was used to show the role of age, level of education and personal experiences with osteoporosis on answers given by the subjects studied. Age (six out of ten answers), level of education (seven out of ten answers) and personal experience (four out of ten answers) significantly affected answers given. The number of correct answers decreased with age and increased with level of education, and there was no systematic influence of personal experience. In summary, data collected provide important information about knowledge of osteoporosis. Generally, the level of knowledge about osteoporosis was high. Higher level of education and younger age improve the knowledge of osteoporosis with no systematic influence of personal experience with the disease.