The social-cognitive determinants of calcium intake for preventing osteoporosis in women

Background: Osteoporosis is a common disease in women over age 45. Calcium intake is among the factors that help prevent osteoporosis. Identifying the social-cognitive determinants of calcium intake can have a major role in the development of osteoporosis prevention programs.Methods: In a cross-sectional study conducted on 400 women younger than 50 years of age and selected through cluster sampling, a hypothetical social-cognitive model was assessed using path analysis, and the fit indices and explanatory power of the model were assessed. The constructs including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support and self-regulation were the explanatory variables and calcium intake was the criterion variable.Results: The mean age of the participating women was 34.07(7.99) years, and the mean calcium intake was reported as 909.94 (12. 6) mg/day. The conceptual model was able to explain 73% of the variance in calcium intake and had good fit indices. Self-regulation was identified as the strongest predictor of calcium intake and outcome expectation was eliminated from the model due to the weakest impact explanatory of calcium intake.Conclusions: The hypothetical model of the present study is recommended as a suitable framework for designing osteoporosis prevention programs, and the programs designed and implemented to promote calcium intake should further emphasize self-regulation skills.

کلیدواژه ها:

Osteoporosis ، Women ، Calcium ، Self Efficacy ، Self Regulation ، Social Support