Osteoporosis health beliefs and self-care behaviors: An exploratory investigation

Objectives: (1) To determine whether women could be segmented into meaningful subgroups with similar profiles of osteoporosis health beliefs; (2) to explore associations among osteoporosis belief profiles and calcium/vitamin D and soy supplement use. The associations between group membership and three other self-care behaviors (cigarette smoking, weight-bearing exercise, and limiting alcohol intake) that may influence bone health also were explored. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Minnesota. Participants: 990 community-dwelling women aged 45 and older living in Minnesota. Interventions: Mailed survey. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of osteoporosis health beliefs and proportions of respondents using calcium/vitamin D supplements, soy-containing products, smoking cigarettes, exercising fewer than three times weekly, and drinking alcohol more than three times weekly. Results: Cluster analysis revealed three distinct subgroups of respondents. Members of the first believed they were susceptible to osteoporosis and perceived many benefits and few barriers to using calcium or soy supplements. Women comprising the second group believed they were susceptible to osteoporosis and that its consequences were serious, but also perceived significant barriers and few benefits associated with calcium or soy supplements. Members of the third group perceived a lack of susceptibility to osteoporosis, strong general health beliefs, and had few opinions regarding calcium or soy supplement use. Members of group 1 were most likely to use calcium/vitamin D supplements. Women comprising groups I and 3 were more likely than those in group 2 to use soy supplements. Conclusion: Women can be segmented into groups based upon osteoporosis belief profiles. These profiles are associated significantly with calcium and soy supplement use, as well as other self-care behaviors that may have an effect on bone health. Pharmacists could use this information to tailor interventions in this population.