Women's Health Beliefs Regarding Osteoporosis in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Osteoporosis represents the major public health concern which affects millions of people worldwide. Many genetics and life style factors influence the occurrence of the disease. Heath belief model (HBM) is a well-known instrument to investigate the health beliefs related to osteoporosis. Objective: To assess the health beliefs of women regarding osteoporosis in Makkah. Settings: The study was carried out in four family health centers in Makkah. Subjects: The subjects of the study were 260 women aged above forty years who attended the different family health centers clinics for follow up. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection. The first one was a socio-demographic characteristic of the studied women and health status structured interview schedule for the women which assessed their medical, surgical, menstrual history and women history of fracture. The second tool was the Osteoporosis Health Belief Model Scale (OHBS), it was used to measure heath beliefs related to osteoporosis. Results: More than three quarters of the studied women had previous health problems. Hypertension, arthritis, and high cholesterol level were reported by more than two fifths 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 to osteoporosis and more than half had low perceived seriousness to the disease. Conclusion: The findings from this study indicate that osteoporosis related health beliefs and behaviors among the studied women were inadequate. Recommendations: Raise public awareness with respect to osteoporosis including the extent of the problem and means for overcoming it. This could be done through intensification of media, awareness campaigns and community mobilization.