I'll worry about that when it comes along': osteoporosis, a meaningful issue for women at mid-life?

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of the health concerns and perceptions of health risks and osteoporosis of women in the age group 40–55 years. Osteoporosis has been increasingly put forward in the popular and scientific press as an important issue for women in mid-life. A variet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education research 2000-04, Vol.15 (2), p.153-162
Main Authors: Backett-Milburn, K., Parry, O., Mauthner, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Behavior Change
Concerns
Estrogen Replacement Therapy - psychology
Females
Feminism
Health
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Needs
Health Promotion
Health technology assessment
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Menopause - psychology
Middle Aged
Middle aged women
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis - prevention & control
Osteoporosis - psychology
Preventive Medicine
Qualitative research
Scotland
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Summary:This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of the health concerns and perceptions of health risks and osteoporosis of women in the age group 40–55 years. Osteoporosis has been increasingly put forward in the popular and scientific press as an important issue for women in mid-life. A variety of preventive measures, including use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), are suggested. The medicalization of women's experiences and associated use of HRT at this point in the life course is the subject of considerable debate in the medical, social scientific and feminist literatures, although, to date, this issue has received less attention in health promotion. Much of this debate is informed by quantitative and survey data, and there is a lack of in-depth qualitative information on women's own views. This study casts doubt on the salience of osteoporosis for women at mid-life. Our qualitative research suggests that, unless they had experiential knowledge which had rendered osteoporosis particularly salient, most women in this study evidenced a surprising degree of disinterest in this health issue. To make sense of this disinterest we examined women's wider accounts of their lives, health and the lifecourse, and the menopause. These findings would appear to present a challenge for those in health promotion who might wish to emphasize early preventive strategies for osteoporosis.
ISSN:0268-1153
1465-3648
DOI:10.1093/her/15.2.153