title: Awareness of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Indian women: An evaluation of Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The level of awareness about osteoporosis in postmenopausal women who are the common sufferers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to evaluate the level of awareness in postmenopausal women using the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale (OHBS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Osteoporosis has emerged as a common health problem in geriatric population. A proactive role needs to be played for preventing its consequences. Before initiating any preventive measures, an evaluation of awareness level of the target population is necessary. The questionnaire-based study design was used for this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire (OHBS)-based study in 100 postmenopausal women in Chandigarh was conducted. The bone mineral density (BMD) was measured in each case by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) of the participants were noted.
  
  
  METHODS
  Statistical analysis was conducted to evaluate any correlation between the various components of the OHBS and the BMD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant difference was noted in the seven component parameters of OHBS among the normal, osteopenic, and osteoporotic women suggesting that the health belief regarding susceptibility is not much different between the three groups of the study population. A statistically significant difference between the mean BMI of normal and osteoporotic population was noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that there is a great deficit in the awareness level of postmenopausal Indian women regarding osteoporosis. Most of the women were unaware of the condition and the means to prevent it. The study emphasizes that health care professionals have lot of ground to cover to decrease the incidence of osteoporosis and its associated health problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Nirmal Raj
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Gopinathan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh Kumar
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Prateek
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Behera
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Sameer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Niranjan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khandelwal
authors.affiliation: GMCH, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Mitali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sen
keywords: Awareness; bone mineral density; dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; health belief; menopausal; osteoporosis