Paper
Saturday, November 3, 2007
59
The Effects of an Osteoporosis Educational Intervention on Health Behaviors on College-Age Puerto Rican Women
Miriam Nieto-Vazquez, RN, MSN, PhD, Department of Nursing, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Mayagüez, PR, USA
| Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to explore nursing knowledge about osteoporosis |
| Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to apply nursing nursing knowledge to Puerto Rican population |
Osteoporosis is a silent disease that primarily affects women. Of the groups that are affected by this disease, Puerto Rican women are included. The theoretical framework use in that steered this study was the Health Belief Model (HBM). Moreover, because the research if culturally focused, the Purnell Model of Cultural Competency directed the application of the HBM to the study population. The uses of these theoretical frameworks were necessary to understand how culture influences knowledge and health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an osteoporosis educational intervention on health behaviors in college-age Puerto Rican women. The study used a pretest-posttest experimental design with one group experimental group and one control group. The sample comprised 105 college-age women between ages 18-25 recruited by visiting classes and asking for volunteer participation. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group and control group. An instrument questionnaire type was used to collect the data. The instrument contains questions regarding osteoporosis health behavior such as smoking and alcohol consumption, calcium rich foods consumption and exercise engagement. Each group completed the questionnaire. Afterwards, the experimental group received the osteoporosis educational intervention, Four weeks after the educational intervention; both groups completed the questionnaire again. Inferential statistics was used to compare the effects of the osteoporosis educational intervention on health behaviors. There were no significantly changes on health behaviors after the educational intervention. Health care providers might focus on these variables to determine the intensity of educational interventions needed when counseling Hispanic women.