Understanding osteoporosis prevalence in Hispanic women

Older Hispanic women at risk for osteoporosis have not been studied using an ecological approach to determine the influential factors linked to this disease.

To discover if certain ecological factors influence the prevalence of osteoporosis among older Hispanic women.

A secondary data analysis was conducted using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data set. The analysis focused on the responses from approximately 413 Hispanic women 60 years and older, a sample that represents 2.2 million U.S. residents. Ecological influence variables, including emotional support, financial support, smoking, housing, milk consumption and self-reported measures of osteoporosis, were chosen to determine if language (read or spoken) indicated a difference among these women.

Descriptive results and a binary logistic regression model demonstrated the relationship between the independent variables and the self-reported measures of osteoporosis. The first model predicted an increased prevalence of an osteoporosis diagnosis in older Hispanic women who preferred Spanish, had decreased emotional support, had increased financial support, owned their homes and had been milk drinkers. The second model predicted an increased prevalence of self-reported fractures among older Hispanic women who preferred Spanish, had decreased emotional support, had increased financial support and had not smoked.

Ecological factors can be considered for older Hispanic women in making decisions about screening for disease as well as preventive health education.