Title: Knowledge, beliefs and preventive behaviors regarding osteoporosis among female health colleges' students at king Abdulaziz University

Abstract:

Osteoporosis is a disease in which the density and quality of bones reduce. It is a silent thief, producing no symptoms until a fragility fracture occurs. Osteoporosis affects 1 in 4 women and more than 1 in 8 men in their lifetime. The purpose of this study is to assess the osteoporosis knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors for students attending health colleges at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah. Validated questionnaires had been used which composed of Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT), Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale (OHBS) and Osteoporosis Preventing Behaviors Survey (OPBS). Tools were revised by 5 experts in the field of nursing to test the content validity. Modifications were carried out according to the panel on clarity of sentences and appropriateness of content to achieve the aims of the current study.  Reliability coefficients for all tools are within the acceptable range (0.70). All data analyses were performed using SPSS version 21. Findings: The overall mean knowledge score was 45.4 ± 13.9 out of 100 with majority female students were classified as having moderate knowledge (52.5%). With regards to OHBS, the overall mean OHBS score was 127.2 ± 17.2 which indicates high perceived OHBS. Among the OHBS subscales, high perceived rating was observed on benefits of exercise, benefits of calcium intake and health motivation whereas low perceived rating were observed to susceptibility seriousness, barrier to exercise and barriers to calcium intake. In the assessment of Osteoporosis preventive behavior, majority of the study participants had an inadequate milk (74.2%), Yogurt (85.6%) cheese (56.2%) consumption per week while nearly all of them were not adherence to calcium supplement (91%) whereas 49.4% of the students were not actively participated in physical activity in the last seven days. Conclusion & Significance: While the knowledge of the female medical students regarding osteoporosis deemed moderate and their perceived health behavior showed to be high however their preventive behaviors appeared low.

Biography:

Ensherah Saeed Messad Althobiti, is classified as a senior nursing Specialist, BSN, MSN in Medical & Surgical. With a total of 15 years' experience in the nursing field. She was working as Nursing Training and Education Manager at King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital, in Taif, Saudia Arabia.