title: Awareness of osteoporosis among female head of household: an Iranian experience.
abstract: More than 81% of the studied women had a poor knowledge of different aspects of osteoporosis and its complications, suggesting that more educational programs targeting women in particular are needed to help improve the osteoporosis practice in the societies and reduce the burden of the disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The family structure has changed considerably in the past decade. But, women from Iran and many countries in the region and even families with similar cultural background living in other parts of the world are still responsible for childcare as well as the lifestyle adapted by the family. The present study was conducted to assess the awareness of the female head of household of osteoporosis and its complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of a population-based study in two Iranian cities, Arak and Sannandaj, to study osteoporosis and its risk factors, a questionnaire on the knowledge of female head of households of osteoporosis and its complications was completed. The subsample filled out the knowledge survey along with the questionnaire on their demographic data, socioeconomic status (SES), reproductive factors, bone-related lifestyle habits, family and personal medical history, medication use, and compliance with osteoporosis medication (if used) as well as a FFQ filled out for all the 2100 participants. They also underwent a bone mineral density (BMD) test, and their serum levels of vitamin D were calculated. These data were then used to assess the factors affecting their awareness level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The knowledge of 81.3% (473) of the studied women was found to be poor on different aspects of osteoporosis and its complications. Multivariate analysis revealed that each level increase in vit D intake tertile increases the chance of higher awareness level in K-Total by 1.5 times. Each level increase in physical activity tertile was associated with a 30.6% lower chance of having a good knowledge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering the poor awareness level of the studied women and their poor practice of bone healthy behavior, one could conclude that more programs are needed or the content/delivery style of the existing ones should be optimized.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Pouria
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khashayar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qorbani
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Education Development, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbasali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keshtkar
authors.affiliation: Osteoporosis Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Center for Microsystems Technology, Imec and Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khashayar
authors.affiliation: Growth and Development Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. larijanib@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Bagher
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Larijani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015519:Bone Density; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: Awareness; Osteoporosis; Vitamin D deficiency