Concern and Risk Perception: Effects on Osteoprotective Behaviour

Table 2

Odds ratio (ORs) of calcium and/or vitamin D use in the next 12 months for covariates about concern and risk perception of osteoporosis (limited to assessments with noncurrent use of calcium or vitamin D).

	Number (%)	Unadjusted OR (95% CI)		Adjusted OR* (95% CI)
Concern about osteoporosis^#; (using a 3-point Likert scale)			0.30		0.58
Not at all concerned	128 (22.3)	1.00		1.00
Somewhat concerned	203 (23.4)	1.05 (0.82–1.36)		1.02 (0.77–1.36)
Very concerned	32 (28.1)	1.34 (0.85–2.11)		1.21 (0.72–2.04)
Perception of osteoporosis risk^#; (using a 5-point Likert scale)			0.04		0.13
Much lower	70 (20.3)	1.00		1.00
A little lower	85 (23.2)	1.17 (0.82–1.67)		1.03 (0.69–1.53)
About the same	150 (22.1)	1.10 (0.80–1.52)		1.10 (0.76–1.58)
A little higher	47 (38.2)	2.42 (1.54–3.79)		2.47 (1.45–4.18)
Much higher	5 (16.7)	0.81 (0.30–2.15)		0.30 (0.07–1.33)
Perception of fracture risk^#; (using a 5-point Likert scale)			0.24		0.22
Much lower	77 (22.1)	1.00		1.00
A little lower	83 (22.1)	1.00 (0.70–1.42)		0.99 (0.67–1.45)
About the same	170 (23.5)	1.08 (0.80–1.48)		1.12 (0.78–1.59)
A little higher	26 (31.3)	1.61 (0.95–2.73)		1.93 (1.06–3.51)
Much higher	4 (21.1)	0.95 (0.31–2.93)		0.17 (0.02–1.34)

Note: Each assessment was treated as an observation, and lack of independence between assessments for the same women (clustering) was taken into account using generalized estimating equations.
^#Concern about osteoporosis (In thinking about your health, how concerned are you about osteoporosis?); perception of osteoporosis risk (How would you rate your own risk of “getting osteoporosis” compared to other women your age?); and perception of fracture risk (How would you rate your own risk of fracturing or breaking a bone compared to other women your age?).
*Adjusted for age, body mass index, private health insurance status, level of education, smoking, drinking, fracture since age 45 years, a maternal history of osteoporosis, history of fractured hip among parents, height loss since age 25 years (≥3 cms), weight loss (≥5 kgs) in the last year, self-reported health status, SF-36 physical score, seeking medical advice on osteoporosis in the previous year and any prior bone mineral density testing.
^∧Test for trend by treating groups as an ordered (continuous) variable.