Learning Objective #1: Explore nursing knowledge about osteoporosis and Puerto Rican women

Learning Objective #2: Apply nursing knowledge to Puerto Rican population

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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 that steered this study was the Health Belief Model (HBM). Moreover, because the research is 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, health beliefs, and self-efficacy in Puerto Rican women. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an osteoporosis educational intervention on knowledge, health beliefs, and self-efficacy in college age Puerto Rican women. The study used a pretest-posttest experimental design with one experimental group and one control group. The sample comprised 105 college age women between ages 18 and 25 recruited by visiting classes and asking for volunteer participation. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The Osteoporosis Knowledge Test, Osteoporosis Health Beliefs Scale, Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale, and demographic survey were used to collect the data. Each group completed the questionnaires and the demographic measure. Afterwards, the experimental group received the educational intervention about osteoporosis. Four weeks after the educational intervention, both groups completed the questionnaires again. Repeated Measures of Analysis of Variance was used to compare the effects of the treatment on the experimental group in comparison to the control group. Women who attended the osteoporosis educational intervention had significantly higher levels of knowledge and health beliefs measured by Osteoporosis Knowledge Test and Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale than women who did not attend the osteoporosis educational intervention. Moreover, women who attended the osteoporosis educational intervention did not have a significantly higher levels of self-efficacy measured by Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale than women who did not attend the osteoporosis educational intervention.