Awareness of factors affecting osteoporosis obtained from a survey on retired Polish subjects.

BACKGROUND Osteoporosis is a growing problem facing modern society and currently poses one of the most serious health challenges. It is a progressive skeletal disease characterised by low bone mineral density whose development depends on multiple factors. These principally include increasing age, nutrition, physical activity, endocrine changes, lifestyles, general health condition and taken drugs. OBJECTIVES To assess how much subjects (aged > 50 years) are aware of the dangers in contracting osteoporosis along with the effects that lifestyle and dairy product consumption can have on this condition developing. MATERIAL AND METHODS A questionnaire, designed in-house, was used to survey a group of 150 randomly selected individuals aged above 50 years. This was performed in June 2012. Questions were on socio-demographics, milk and dairy product consumption, physical activity as well as assessing knowledge about osteoporosis that included issues such as its incidence, prevention and morbidity. RESULTS Osteoporosis was established in 60.7% subjects of whom 69.2% were women. Only 9.3% never consumed any dairy products. Physical activity of some kind was undertaken by 77.3% subjects. Within the last year, 38.0% reported having fractures of whom 46.0% had osteoporosis and 25% were healthy. Respondents were aware that consuming dairy products is beneficial to bone health and this awareness was higher among those with osteoporosis. Physical activity was also recognised to be important in preventing this condition. CONCLUSIONS Subjects suffering from osteoporosis had twice as many more fractures than healthy subjects.