Asian and Asian-American college students' awareness of osteoporosis

To quantify Asian and Asian-American college students' knowledge of osteoporosis and preventive health behaviors.

Sixty-four-question survey

University of Minnesota.

One hundred sixty-eight male and female Asian and Asian-American students, mean age 21 +/- 3.4 years.

About half of the students consumed 0-1 servings/day of dietary calcium, 42% consumed 2 cups/day or more of caffeinated beverages, 8% smoked cigarettes, and 61% exercised 2.5 hours/week or less. At least 1 serving/day of phytoestrogen was consumed by 80% of the students. Only 11% of students answered at least 75% of osteoporosis fact questions correctly. Women (p = 0.011) and the United States-born participants (p = 0.006) were more apt to change their health behaviors to prevent or treat osteoporosis than men and Asia-born participants. Thirty-eight percent of Hmong participants attributed osteoporosis to fate, chance, or luck whereas Vietnamese participants were more likely to attribute osteoporosis to diet. Most participants (63%) did not know whether their culture objected to estrogen replacement therapy, and 42% said menopause was a natural occurrence for which pharmacologic treatment should not be administered.

Many Asian and Asian-American college students did not practice health behaviors to prevent osteoporosis, and most lacked sufficient knowledge about the condition.