Women's knowledge concerning osteoporosis at Al Diwaniyah State, Iraq: A cross-sectional design study

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a growing epidemic that threatens the health of people all over the world. Unfortunately, many women still do not take the necessary precautions to avoid osteoporosis, and many have incorrect ideas about the disease. The current study aimed to assess women's knowledge of osteoporosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was performed by purposive sampling on 383 menopausal women aged 45-65 years covered by all health centers from November 8, 2023 to April 20, 2024 in Diwaniyah Iraq. The osteoporosis knowledge assessment tool was used to evaluate participants' knowledge. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS version 27 software. RESULTS: In this study, a significant proportion of participants demonstrated poor knowledge (13.5%), while 64.4% had average knowledge, and 22.1% exhibited good knowledge. The study did not find statistically significant differences in participants' knowledge based on employment status, marital status, or residence (P = 0.062, P = 0.403, P = 0.192, respectively). However, there is a statistically significant correlation between participants' knowledge and their level of education (P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The participants exhibit average knowledge regarding osteoporosis. This finding underscores the importance of increasing osteoporosis knowledge to reduce the risk of harm and healthcare costs. Consequently, a comprehensive women's health program should incorporate various components of osteoporosis prevention.