Maturitas 56 (2007) 21–29 Knowledge of osteoporosis correlated with hormone therapy use and health status Magda Vytrisalova a,∗ , Ales Kubena a , Jiri Vlcek a , Vladimir Palicka b , Tomas Hala c , Karel Pavelka d a Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovskeho 1203, 500 05 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic b Osteoporosis Centre, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic c Osteoporosis Centre, Pardubice Regional Hospital and Center for Clinical and Basic Research, CCBR Czech, Pardubice, Czech Republic d Institute of Rheumatology, Prague and Department of Rheumatology of the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic Received 6 February 2006; received in revised form 11 May 2006; accepted 12 May 2006 Abstract Objectives: The study objectives were: (a) to evaluate knowledge about osteoporosis and to identify its correlates among women ≥40 years of age attending outpatient centers; (b) to compare the level of knowledge between women already receiving treatment for osteoporosis and first-time attendees. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with women recruited from nine outpatient centres in the Czech Republic. The women were divided into two subgroups: patients who have already been diagnosed with osteoporosis (osteopenia) and who are receiving treatment for the disease (OS group); first-time attendees who have been referred for the assessment of osteoporosis (comparison group). The patient’s knowledge of osteoporosis was assessed using the Osteoporosis Questionnaire (OPQ) developed by Pande et al. [Pande KC, Takats D, Kanis JA, Edwards V, Slade P, McCloskey EV. Development of a questionnaire (OPQ) to assess patient’s knowledge about osteoporosis. Maturitas 2000;37:75–81]. Results: A total of 474 women (median age 63 years) were studied (306 in the OS group, 168 in the comparison group). Knowledge scores based on OPQ (median) were 7 and 6 points in the OS and comparison groups, respectively. When adjusted for age, the statistics showed better knowledge patients in the OS group (P = 0.019). In both the OS and comparison groups, knowledge was found to be correlated positively with education (P < 0.001) and experience of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (P < 0.001) and negatively with age (P < 0.001). Knowledge was higher among women with better health status in the OS group. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 495067486; fax: +420 495512266. E-mail address: magda.vytrisalova@faf.cuni.cz (M. Vytrisalova). 0378-5122/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2006.05.005