Prevalence of certain osteoporosis-determining habits among post menopausal women in the Basque Country, Spain, in 2003

Backgound: On planning health promotion strategies for a disease or condition, one must know the current situation of the factors which have a bearing thereon. This study is aimed at analyzing, in the Basque Country, those living habits which interact to control the maximum bone density peak in postmenopausal women. Methods: This study was conducted in February-May 2003 on a sample of 555 women over 45 years of age selected at random in the Basque Country. A total of 82.8% thereof answered a living habit survey and a three-day recall diet survey. A descriptive core trend study was made for quantitative variable and frequencies for qualitative variables. A comparison was drawn between the prevalence among groups selected by way of the chi-square test and Student's t-test. Results: A total of 27.4% of the women studied were over 65 years of age (average age 58.51). Forty percent (40%) of the women were actively involved in physical exercise. A total of 4.1% of the women had sun exposure occasionally or exceptionally. The average calcium intake was 788.17 mg/day (SD=218.35). A total 0.3% had risk-level alcohol consumption and 14.7% moderate consumption. In relation to smoking, 12.6% of the women in the sample smoked less than a pack a day, and 3.5% more than one pack a day. Conclusions: The women studied showed as risk factors for having osteoporosis: a low level of active exercise, low calcium intake and in those women younger that 65 years of age and high degree of smoking.