THE LEVEL OF PEOPLE’S AWARENESS OF OSTEOPOROSIS IN ARDABIL CITY: A SURVEY BASED STUDY

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease which is characterized by a decrease in bone mass which can lead to increasing the risk of fracture. The present study aimed at assessing the level of people’s awareness of osteoporosis in Ardabil city. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with the purpose of investigating the level of individuals’ awareness of osteoporosis in Ardabil in 2013. The number of participants in this investigation was 250 including both sexes. And the instrument used for data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire which included 30 questions. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were estimated, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.78. Data were analyzed through SPSS.16.Results: 46.4% of respondents were male and 53.6% were female. The largest number (34.8%) of participants was from 15-25 age range. The mean awareness score was 13.32±2.93 out of 23, and 73% of the cases were at a moderate level of awareness. In this study, there was a significant relationship between the level of awareness on the one hand and the level of education (primary level, diploma, university) or economic class (weak, moderate, good, very good) on the other (p<. 001), but there was no such relationship between level of awareness and gender (p=0. 69), or age (p=0. 24). Conclusion: According to the results of this research, a high percentage of individuals had a moderate level of awareness. It is essential that health authorities and healthcare providers plan some programs for prevention and control of disease, while taking into account the level of individuals’ awareness