Evaluation of Disease Related Knowledge in Patients of Osteoporosis: An Observational Study.

Objective: Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue which results in consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture and more common in post-menopausal women and elderly people. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge of osteoporosis among patients in tertiary healthcare systems, as well as their knowledge of associated lifestyle, risk factors, and preventive measures.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to determine the knowledge of outpatients towards osteoporosis. The survey was carried out in a tertiary care hospital Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad. This study included patients visiting various outpatient departments of Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad. A structured questionnaire was used as a tool to collect the data from the participants. The compiled data was analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0. Chi-square test was performed to determine association level among study variables. Multiple regression was used to predict the impact of two or more independent variables on dependent variable. p-value of < .05 was considered to be significant.

Results: The mean score of knowledge was 8.73 ± 3.72. 159 (63.6%) respondents had poor knowledge, 78 (31.2%) had moderate knowledge and 13 (5.2%) had good knowledge. The results showed that most respondents had poor knowledge. Differences were statistically significant when age, gender, marital status and education were analyzed (P < .001).

Conclusion: According to the results of all aspects of current study, it was concluded that mostly patients had inadequate knowledge regarding their disease which leads to an increased risk and progression of osteoporosis.