engleski

What do patients treated for osteoporosis know about vitamin d and calcium? : results from the large cross-sectional multicenter study "how much do i know on osteoporosis" (host study) in Croatia

Compliance with osteoporosis therapy is one of the weakest links in the current osteoporosis treatment paradigm. Improved knowledge regarding the potential benefits of vitamin D and calcium may result in more regular use of these supplements and overall better treatment outcomes for patients with osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge of these two supplements in a large population sample of subjects treated for osteoporosis in Croatia. Patients with established diagnosis of osteoporosis from physiatric, rheumatologic and nuclear medicine outpatient clinics throughout Croatia were included in the study. There were 3, 123 subjects (3, 021 women, 102 men), whose mean age was 66.64±8.92 years and the median duration of recorded osteoporosis of 2.0 years (interquartile range 4.0). All patients were read a physician-guided questionnaire with 13 multiple choice questions. We present herein the results of the questionnaire regarding the role and importance of vitamin D and calcium supplementation. A total of 283 (15%) subjects among those who responded to this question (N=1, 857) declared they had limited knowledge about calcium. The majority of patients were aware that calcium had a role in bone formation and that some types of food contained calcium. As for their knowledge of vitamin D, 496 (27%) subjects among those who responded to this question (N=1, 843) reported having limited knowledge regarding Vitamin D. Approximately 50% of the respondents were aware that Vitamin D was dependent on sun exposure. Only 8% of respondents were aware of reports that 2 out of 3 women had insufficient Vitamin D levels and only 13% were aware that women suffering from prior osteoporotic fractures had an increased likelihood of Vitamin D deficiency. In this large survey of subjects treated for osteoporosis, almost 30% of patients declared that they had limited knowledge about vitamin D. Awareness and/or knowledge of the importance of vitamin D on bone health was limited as was knowledge regarding the importance of Vitamin D to muscle strength, coordination and incidence of falls. Activities aimed at increasing the awareness of importance of vitamin D in the bone health should be undertaken, since this may have a positive influence on compliance of vitamin D use and further contribute to the efficacy of osteoporosis treatment.

calcium; osteoporosis; vitamin D

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