A Naseem

Exploration of Osteoporosis Knowledge and Perception among Young Womenin Quetta, Pakistan

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and a major public health problem in Pakistan. Women have been the most susceptible group of this silent disease therefore needs primary preventive steps such as health education of which one of the steps is to assess their knowledge according to which the content of their health education program is made. The study intended to investigate knowledge regarding osteoporosis among female students of university in Quetta, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken with 162 female students of University of Baluchistan, Quetta. Knowledge was assessed by using a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire containing 20 disease related questions. Convenience sampling technique was used for data collection. Descriptive analysis was used to demonstrate the characteristics of the study population. Inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis tests, p< 0.05) were used to assess the significance among study variables. Results: Out of 162 female students, 153 (81.5%) were single and science students 123(75.9%) with the majority of age group of less than 24 years. Mean age of the study participants was 21.91 ± 1.74 years. 134(82.7%) have not been previously diagnosed of bone related problem or osteoporosis. Mean score of knowledge was 13.01 ± 2.9. Department and living status were significantly associated with knowledge scores. Conclusion: The study concluded that females had better understanding of the disease, osteoporosis, but they need to know about the treatment for this disease in Pakistan and it is also necessary for them to know more about some specific risk factors.

Effect of Educational Intervention on Osteoporosis Knowledge among University Female Students in Quetta, Pakistan

Objective: The study intended to assess the impact of educational intervention on knowledge of osteoporosis among female university students of Quetta. Methods: This interventional study was conducted on female university students by using convenience sampling technique. A total of 163 female students were enrolled for the study, these are those female students who did not heard about the disease named as osteoporosis. These subjects were provided with a selfexplanatory brochure that contains basic information regarding osteoporosis. The intervention was completely theoretical in nature. After two days interval participants were contacted again and asked to complete a pre-validated questionnaire containing 20 questions related to osteoporosis knowledge. Descriptive analysis was used to demonstrate the demographic characteristics of the study population. Inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis tests and Wilcoxon mean rank test, p<0.05) were used to assess the significance among study variables and to assess the impact of educational intervention on knowledge. Results: Average score of knowledge was 14.18 ± 2.7. Although educational intervention had a significant effect on knowledge scores of the respondents (Wilcoxon rank test p<0.005) (considering the pre-intervention knowledge score as zero) certain demographic characteristics (academic degree and living status) does affect knowledge scores of the study respondents. Conclusion: Although adequate improvement of knowledge scores of osteoporosis was reported after educational intervention, yet efforts should be made to bring change in the attitudes and practices of the female students by the help of intensive educational programs based on behavioral learning theories for better disease knowledge and prevention.