Health-promoting educational practices related to osteoporosis

This descriptive study was conducted to determine what routine osteoporosis -related education was provided to women aged 49 years and younger and wome n aged 50 years and older. Forty-seven primary care providers (PCPs) includ ing physicians/osteopaths (74%), nurse practitioners (19%), and physician a ssistants (7%) participated in the study. Significant differences were foun d in the frequency of performing osteoporosis risk assessments (t = 7.697, p = 0.0), performance of diet histories (t = 6.212, p = 0.0), exercise asse ssments (t = 2.483, p = 0.0), and provision of osteoporosis-related informa tion (t = 8.700, p = 0.0) with women aged 50 or older receiving more attent ion than women aged 49 years or younger. Taken together, the findings of th is study suggest that primary care providers generally assess the risk fact ors associated with osteoporosis and provide education more frequently to w omen 50 years of age and older. Despite the small sample size, there was a clear age-related difference in the assessment of osteoporosis risk factors and provision of risk-modifying education. Copyright (C) 2000 by W.B. Saun ders Company.