KNOLWEDGE AND BELIEF TOWARDS OSTEOPOROSIS AMONG FEMALE NURSING STUDENTS OF SELECTED NURSING COLLEGE, MANGALORE

Abstract

Osteoporosis continues to be underrecognized condition that can be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle at younger age. A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess knowledge and belief towards osteoporosis among 142 nursing college students. The data collection instrument used were by OKAT (Osteoporosis Knowledge assessment tool) for knowledge assessment and belief by OHBS (Osteoporosis Health belief scale) and subjects were selected by convenient sampling. The study results found that mean age of students were 19.95± 1.2 years, a small proportion of students 3% & 14.7% of subjects had family history of osteoporosis and personal fracture. 44.36% & 54.92% of subjects were not sure whether they are getting adequate sun exposure or intake of calcium rich foods. 46.47% of students reported they have never consumed calcium supplements. 11.97% had good knowledge, majority 69.01% had satisfactory knowledge and 19.01% had poor knowledge regrading osteoporosis. Belief towards osteoporosis overall mean score obtained by the students were 157.4 ± 13.78, the result revealed that there is no much difference among subdomain scores of beliefs regarding osteoporosis. The study nding points that students are aware about the condition but needs to incorporate healthy lifestyle at younger age that will enable to have optimal life in later years.