title: Knowledge about osteoporosis in a Malaysian population.
abstract: To determine the depth and sources of knowledge about osteoporosis (OP) among the public in Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to attendees of health-related public forums. A total of 87.1% of the attendees had heard of OP. Of these, 89.5% were concerned about getting OP. Significantly more women than men (P = .015), those with more than 10 years of schooling (P < .001), and those earning more than $US285 per month (P = .022) had heard of OP. Knowledge of OP risk factors was good: 97.1% identified low calcium intake, 87.8% lack of exercise, 80.0% family history of OP, and 75.8% postmenopausal status. A total of 38.7% of the attendees thought that OP was more serious than cancer and 35.1% more serious than heart disease; 55.7% obtained information about OP from newspapers and 46.4% from magazines. In this self-selected population, women, the better educated, and those earning higher incomes were more aware of OP. Knowledge of OP was obtained mainly from printed materials.
authors.affiliation: Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. yeapss@myjaring.net
authors.forename: Swan Sim
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yeap
authors.forename: Emily Man Lee
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: Esha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Das Gupta
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires