Awareness and Health Beliefs of Osteoporosis Among Middle Aged Women in Selected Municipality of Kathmandu

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a bone disorder characterized by a reduction in bone density accompanied by increasing porosity and brittleness. It is one of the major public health problem globally and its prevalence is rapidly increasing particularly in women.  Osteoporosis causes more than 8.9 million fractures annually, resulting in an osteoporotic fracture every 3 seconds. Therefore the objectives of the study was to assess the existing awareness and health belief of osteoporosis  among middle aged women. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used on a sample of 328 middle aged  women residing  in Nagarjun Municipality, Kathmandu. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. Data was collected after informed consent through face to face interview schedule using  Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT) and Osteoporosis Health Beliefs Scale (OHBS). Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Chi-Square test) were used for data analysis at 5% level of significance. Results: The overall osteoporosis awareness and  health beliefs mean scores were  9.39 ± 2.93 and 146.18 ±11.58 respectively.  Majority (60.0%) of the respondents were unaware of osteoporosis. Existing awareness of respondents was significantly  associated with age (p=0.000) and level of education (p= 0.038). Based on the OHBS subscale score, the highest perception was on  health motivation ( 22.73 ± 2.81) and the lowest perception was on barriers to calcium intake (mean score 17.71 ± 4.32). Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is concluded  that the middle aged women of  Nagarjun Municipality-6 are unaware about osteoporosis. Therefore, community based awareness campaigns on osteoporosis should be reinforced.