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Review
. 2018 Aug 12;15(8):1727.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph15081727.

A Review of Knowledge, Belief and Practice Regarding Osteoporosis among Adolescents and Young Adults

Chin Yi Chan  1 , Norazlina Mohamed  2 , Soelaiman Ima-Nirwana  3 , Kok-Yong Chin  4
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Knowledge, Belief and Practice Regarding Osteoporosis among Adolescents and Young Adults

Chin Yi Chan et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem affecting millions of people worldwide. Increasing knowledge, correcting health belief and promoting osteoprotective practices are effective measures for building and maintaining strong bone throughout ones' life-span. This review aims to summarize the contemporary evidence on the knowledge, beliefs and practice of adolescents and young adults on bone health. We performed literature searches using the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify original studies from 2008 to May 2018 using the search terms "(knowledge OR beliefs OR attitude OR practice OR behaviours OR physical activity OR exercise OR diet OR nutrition) AND (young OR youth OR adolescents OR children OR young adults OR students OR teenager) AND (osteoporosis OR bone health)". Of the 3206 articles found, 34 met the inclusion criteria. Studies showed that most adolescents and young adults had poor knowledge and expressed disinterest in osteoporosis. They believed that other diseases were more serious than osteoporosis, contributing to low perceived susceptibility and seriousness towards this disease. Popular media emerged as a platform to obtain information regarding osteoporosis. The lack of knowledge and misconceptions about osteoporosis led to poor osteoprotective practices. As a conclusion, the current evidence revealed a lack of awareness about osteoporosis among adolescents and young adults. Educational interventions may be useful to improve the awareness of osteoporosis among this population.

Keywords: adolescents; behaviours; beliefs; bone health; diet; knowledge; osteoporosis; physical activity; students; teenager; young adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the stepwise selection of relevant studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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