Preventive care for the menopausal woman

Osteoporosis prevention education programme for women

AIM

This paper reports an evaluation of a nurse-initiated education programme on four specific osteoporosis prevention behaviours which led to their adoption or to positive attitude changes.

BACKGROUND

In the past, osteoporosis was a serious health concern that most commonly affected women in Northern Europe and the United States of America, but was less commonly seen in Asian women. However, in Hong Kong, osteoporosis is currently among the top five conditions causing disability and prolonged hospital stay for older people. From an economic perspective, the most cost-effective approach is to focus on primary prevention via education, and nurses often have the responsibility of providing such educational programmes.

METHOD

A randomized controlled study was conducted from July 2004 to March 2005 with 76 women (38 cases and 38 controls) recruited in two private beauty clinics in Hong Kong. Pre-, post- and follow-up education data were compared regarding attitudes and adoption frequency before and after the education programme.

RESULTS

The results showed statistically significant increases for each behaviour: consumption of soy foods (P < 0.001), milk (P < 0.001), more exercise (P = 0.01) and vitamin D/exposure to sunlight (P < 0.001) for the case group compared with the control group. Most participants either disagreed (n = 15, 39.0%) or strongly disagreed (n = 23, 61.0%) that there was not enough information provided in the education programme to motivate them to change. They rated the nurse's performance as either satisfactory or very satisfactory on presentation, ability to answer their questions and ability to describe each behaviour clearly.

CONCLUSION

Although positive results with a nurse-initiated education programme were demonstrated, future research examining the effects of education and occupation on these four adoption behaviours should focus on more diverse populations with respect to age, income or ethnicity. The findings suggest the value of creative approaches in future health education for the prevention of osteoporosis, and the need for a critical appraisal of current strategies and a re-evaluation of services and funding.

The effectiveness of an osteoporosis prevention education programme for women in Hong Kong: a randomized controlled trial

AIMS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a nurse-initiated education programme on four specific osteoporosis-prevention related behaviours leads to their adoption or positive attitude changes compared with women who did not participate in this programme.

RESEARCH METHOD

The design was a randomized controlled design and the setting was a local private beauty clinic.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Pre-, post- and follow-up education data compared attitudes and consumption frequency before and after the education programme.

RESULTS

The results showed significant increases in the reported follow-up for each behaviour: consumption of soya foods (mean = 4.3, SD = 0.5), milk (mean = 4.2, SD = 0.8), more exercise (mean = 4.3, SD = 0.5) and vitamin D/exposure to sunlight (mean = 4.2, SD = 0.9) for subjects in the case group compared with control group subjects (soya foods: mean = 3.3, SD = 0.9, P < 0.001; milk: mean = 3.0, SD = 0.9, P < 0.001; more exercise: mean = 3.4, SD = 1.0, P = 0.003; vitamin D/sunlight: mean = 2.7, SD = 0.9, P < 0.00). Most of the participants either disagreed (n = 11, 55.0%) or strongly disagreed (n = 9, 45.0%) that there was not enough information provided in the education programme to motivate them to change. On the satisfaction score, they rated the nurse's performance as either satisfactory (n = 11, 55.0%) or very satisfactory (n = 9, 45.0%) on presentation and ability to answer their questions and either satisfactory (n = 12, 60.0%) or very satisfactory (n = 8, 40.0%) on ability to describe each behaviour clearly.

CONCLUSION

A targeted education programme conducted with Hong Kong women resulted in significantly increased consumption of calcium including soya-based foods, milk and vitamin D. According to the reported attitudinal and behavioural intentions, participants' positive feedback suggests that women who participated in this educational programme were motivated to make changes and benefited from the support of this nurse-initiated education programme.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Osteoporosis was a serious health concern that most commonly affected women. As indicated by the results of this study, this educational programme can act as simple but effective nursing intervention to promote women's attitudinal and behavioural intentions towards osteoporosis-prevention.