The self-reported prevalence of, and attitudes to and perceptions of, osteoporosis in the South Australian community were assessed using data collected as part of the 1995 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey (household interviews)--a clustered, self-weighting, multistage sample of households in metropolitan and country centers. The self-reported prevalence was 4.8 (95% CI: 3.7-5.8) and 1.4% (95% CI: 0.8-2.0) for women (n = 1531) and men (n = 1485) respectively. For individuals with osteoporosis, calcium was the favored treatment (52%), while 33% of women were on hormone replacement therapy. An appropriate definition of osteoporosis was given by 62% of women and 37% of men. The main risk factors were reported as lack of calcium and age. There was a significant association between knowledge of the definition of osteoporosis and identification of correct risk factors. A high perceived risk of osteoporosis was reported in 23% of women and 7% of men. Osteoporosis risk was assessed as higher in those who did not adopt recognized prevention measures. Perception of risk was not related to the individual's own risk factors. Self-reported prevalence of osteoporosis significantly underestimates the likely true prevalence and general awareness and knowledge is much lower for men than women. The importance of individual risk factors for osteoporosis are not understood by the general community.

Issue addressed To determine the prevalence of diagnosed osteoporosis, to explore the level of perceived risk of people without the disease, to investigate qualitatively the reasons for the levels of perceived risk, the knowledge of what osteoporosis is and what effects the disease has on quality of life and well‐being. Methods Cross‐sectional household survey undertaken in metropolitan and country South Australia (SA) in 1998 with 3,001 randomly selected adults (18 years and over) interviewed. Respondents from the survey who gave consent were recruited into three focus groups (based on those with and without the disease). Results Osteoporosis is still considerably under‐diagnosed, with 2.9% of the SA adult population reporting being told by a doctor they have the condition (rising to 15.9% of females aged 65 years and over). Perception of risk of getting osteoporosis, for both males and females, is at variance with actual risk with only 9.2% of females and 3% of males believing they are at high risk. Perceived risk was also determined, with 50% of females and 69% of males having a low level of perceived risk. Qualitative interviews showed that people without osteoporosis believe osteoporosis has a low impact on sufferers. Those with the disease highlighted the impact the disease had on their whole quality of life as well as their mobility.