WHAT DO NORWEGIAN WOMEN AND MEN KNOW ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS

A survey of a random sample of 1514 Norwegian women and men aged 16-79 years was undertaken to investigate knowledge of osteoporosis and att itudes towards methods for preventing this disease. The interviews wer e carried out by Central Bureau of Statistics of Norway as part of the ir monthly national poll using a structured questionnaire. Women knew more about osteoporosis than did men (p <0.001). In both men and women increased knowledge of osteoporosis was correlated to a high level of education. Furthermore it was clearly demonstrated that knowing someo ne with osteoporosis or suffering from it oneself increased the knowle dge of osteoporosis significantly in both women and men. Multiple regr ession analysis confirmed the univariate analyses, and education was t he strongest predictive factor for knowledge. To a hypothetical questi on as many as two-thirds of the women answered that they would use lon g-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent osteoporosis on th e recommendation of their general practitioner. Their attitudes toward s the use of estrogen therapy did not show any significant relation to age, but their reluctance towards HRT increased with education (p <0. 001). When asked a question about their preferences regarding the use of physical activity as a means to prevent osteoporosis, older women p referred walking (p <0.001), whereas younger women wanted more organiz ed athletic activity (p <0.001). The data demonstrated that there was a high degree of general knowledge of osteoporosis and its consequence s in the general population.