Women s Health Beliefs Regarding Osteoporosis in Alexandria

Osteoporosis represents the major public health concern which affects millions ofpeople worldwide. Many genetics and life style factors influence the occurrence of thedisease. Heath belief model (HBM) is a well-known instrument to investigate the healthbeliefs related to osteoporosis. Objective: To assess the health beliefs of women regardingosteoporosis in Alexandria. Settings: The study was carried out in four family health centersin Alexandria. Subjects: The subjects of the study were 260 women aged above forty yearswho attended the different family health centers clinics for follow up. Tools: Two tools wereused for data collection. The first one was a socio-demographic characteristic of the studiedwomen and health status structured interview schedule for the women which assessed theirmedical, surgical, menstrual history and women history of fracture. The second tool was theOsteoporosis Health Belief Model Scale (OHBS), it was used to measure heath beliefs relatedto osteoporosis. Results: More than three quarters of the studied women had previous healthproblems. Hypertension, arthritis, and high cholesterol level were reported by more than twofifths of the women and about one third of them had previous family history of osteoporosis.Moreover, around one third of the studied women had low perceived susceptibility toosteoporosis and more than half had low perceived seriousness to the disease. Conclusion:The findings from this study indicate that osteoporosis related health beliefs and behaviorsamong the studied women were inadequate. Recommendations: Raise public awareness withrespect to osteoporosis including the extent of the problem and means for overcoming it. Thiscould be done through intensification of media, awareness campaigns and communitymobilization.