Shariati and Sina Hospital nurse's knowledge about osteoporosis

Better understanding of etiology, risk factors and symptomatology of osteoporosis can have a great impact on self care and preventive behavior. This is also true for nurses. This knowledge not only affects their lives but also have a positiveimpact on their job. In this study 389 randomly selected nurses completed a questionnaire with 37 questions about knowledge of osteoporosis, including questions on epidemiology, risk factors, symptomatology, and nutritional aspects of the disease. Questionnaire also included basic personal information and questions about dairy intake, exerciseand smoking. Completion of the questionnaire was in a semi supervised manner. SPSS 16, soft ware was used for data analysis. Eighty seven percent were female and 46% were married. Median age was 33 years (SD:7.6) and median knowledge score was 21.7 through 37 maximum probable score. Misconception on symptomatology of osteoporosis was observed in 84% of the responders. The only significantly positive correlation for knowledge Score washigher degrees of education. Dairy intake was adequate in only 45.6% and it had also negative correlation with family crowding. Regular exercise was reported by only 38.7%. There was no correlation between adequate dairy intake and regular physical activity with knowledge score of responders. In comparison to other studies knowledge about osteoporosis is relatively good among nurses, but it is not enough. Dairy intake and regular physical activity were inadequate and thesefactors need more attention.