The evaluation of osteoporosis knowledge and health beliefs of 15-64 years women living in Central Konyaalti District of Antalya

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease caused by the deterioration of bone tissue, especially with age. This study was planned to determine the osteoporosis knowledge and osteoporosis health beliefs of 15-64 age women living in Konyaaltı district of Antalya and to emphasize the importance of osteoporosis and to increase the awareness of osteoporosis disease. The research is a cross-sectional study of a sample that represents the universe. The research population consists of 15-64 years old women living in Konyaalti. As a result of the calculation made using the sample size determination formulas, the number of people who need to be sampled has found 619. This number was multiplied by 2 because of the pattern effect in the cluster sampling method. The number of women who need to be reached in Konyaaltı, Antalya is 1240. Osteoporosis Knowledge Test Score, Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale Score, osteoporosis knowledge level, physician diagnosed osteoporosis status were taken as dependent variable. Sociodemographic variables, medical history, lifestyle characteristics and reproductive characteristics of the individual and his / her family were taken as independent variables. The mean age of women was 41,58 ± 14,44. The rate of those who declared that they had knowledge of osteoporosis was 67,1% and the rate of those who declared that they had no knowledge of osteoporosis was 32,9%. When evaluated within the score range 0-24 the mean score obtained from the Osteoporosis Knowledge Test was 19,90 ± 3,11. Of the participants, 59,5% had a higher level of knowledge of osteoporosis than the median value and 40,5% of the participants had a lower than median value. When evaluated within the score range 42-210 the mean total score of the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale was found to be 139,21 ± 14,74. The women who studied less than 5 years were 2,46 times, those who studied 6 to 8 years were 1,65 times, those who consumed caffeine less than 200 mg/day were 1,43 times, those who were in menopause were 1,37 times more likely to have a lesser knowledge of osteoporosis than the median level of all women. It was determined that age increases the risk of getting osteoporosis disease diagnosis from a doctor 1,15 times, the use of cortisone for more than three months increases the risk 1,91 times and family history of osteoporosis increases the risk 3,73 times. As a result, it was determined that the knowledge level and health beliefs of osteoporosis were high in Konyaalti District women. When the lifestyle characteristics were evaluated in women aged 15-64 in Konyaalti district, it is detected that smoking, insufficient sunlight exposure and insufficient physical activity in terms of bone health were high. As the level of education of women increased, the level of knowledge of osteoporosis increased. The implementation of the 12-year basic education program and in particular the supervision of women's participation in this compulsory school will have a significant contribution to bone health in the future. It will be useful to use media tools such as newspapers, internet and television to create knowledge and awareness. KEY WORDS: Postmenopausal Osteoporosis, Senile Osteoporosis, Awareness