Despite Majority of Canadians Claiming Familiarity with Osteoporosis, More than Half (53%) Fail Quiz About Condition

Toronto, ON - While seven in ten Canadians (68%) claim to be familiar (17% very/50% somewhat) with osteoporosis, half (53%) of those aware of the medical condition get a failing grade when their knowledge of it is put to the test, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Canadians aware of osteoporosis had their knowledge of the medical condition tested in a quiz. Overall, 47% passed the quiz, while 53% did not. More specifically, 2% were awarded a grade of A, 7% a B, 17% a C, 21% a D, and 53% failed the quiz. The average number of correct answers was 5.1 out of 10*.

Those most likely to pass the test were:

• Women (50%)
• Quebec residents (52%)

Those most likely to fail the test were:

• Men (57%, vs. 50% of women)
• Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (60%) and Atlantic Canada (60%)

Age does not appear to directly correlate with knowledge about osteoporosis: while those aged 50-69 (50%) were most likely to pass the quiz, those 18-29 were next in line (48%), followed by those 70+ (46%) and 30-49 (43%).

Self-assessed familiarity with osteoporosis may be at 68% nationwide, but this leaves three in ten Canadians (29%) who admit they are not familiar (7% not at all/22% not very) with the medical condition and 4% who have never even heard of it. Familiarity tends to be stronger among women (76%) than men (58%), and among older Canadians than younger ones: 75% of those aged 70+ are familiar with osteoporosis, compared with 72% of those 50-69, 64% of those 30-49 and 61% of those 18-29.

Mixed Results

Canadians did better on some questions than others. For instance, more than eight in ten (84%) Canadians aware of osteoporosis know that it affects both men and women, while six in ten (61%) correctly said that osteoporosis can be prevented. However, only 15% know that osteoporosis does not have symptoms that allow your doctor to detect it at an early age, and just 17% know that osteoporosis is a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences.

Furthermore, only 14% of Canadians aware of osteoporosis are aware that the condition is also called `the silent thief,' although four in ten (44%) say correctly that the nickname comes from the fact that osteoporosis has no visible symptoms. A further one in three (32%) think the name comes from the fact that reserves of minerals are stolen, while 4% think it's because doctors can't diagnose it easily and 3% say it's because fractures make no sound.

Concern and Preventive Action

Despite the lack of knowledge about osteoporosis and how it can impact our health, more than four in five (45%) Canadians who are aware of it say they are concerned (11% very/34% somewhat) about personally developing osteoporosis. Concern is especially high among women (56%) compared to men (32%), but comparable among Canadians aged 50+ (46%) and those under 50 (44%).

Among those concerned about developing osteoporosis, three in four (73%) say they have made dietary changes - such as increasing calcium intake (41%) and drinking more milk (27%) - to reduce their risk of developing the condition. One in three (34%) have started exercising, while 12% have undertaken other concrete actions and 1% already have osteoporosis. Fourteen per cent (14%) of Canadians concerned about the condition have not taken any action to reduce their risk.

On average, Canadians aware of osteoporosis believe they should start thinking or becoming concerned about osteoporosis at age 44, and believe they likely begin to lose bone mass at age 45.

Bone Health and Nutrition

There is broad agreement among Canadians when it comes to the role of calcium in preventing osteoporosis. More than eight in ten (84%) agree (40% strongly/44% somewhat) that `calcium is key to help reduce the risk of osteoporosis', while three in four (74%) agree (32% strongly/41% somewhat) that `adults over the age of 50 should take a calcium supplement'. Two in three Canadians (66%) agree (22% strongly/44% somewhat) that `it's easy to get enough calcium from foods other than milk products (such as milk, yogurt and cheese)', while nearly as many (64%) agree (26% strongly/39% somewhat) that `you must consume milk products (such as milk, yogurt and cheese) to get enough calcium in your diet.' A minority (35%) agree (14% strongly/21% somewhat) that `a lactose intolerant person can't consume any milk products' - half (50%) disagree with this view (24% strongly/26% somewhat), and a further 15% aren't sure.

When it comes to food knowledge, a majority of Canadians recognize milk, yogurt and cheese as being the most calcium-rich options available. Canadians who could name at least five different foods that contain calcium were asked to rank their top five foods in order of the concentration of calcium each one contains. Seven in ten (69%) ranked milk, yogurt and cheese first, with much smaller numbers awarding the same ranking to other options such as canned fish with bones (9%) broccoli (4%) or spinach (4%).

Awareness of Osteoporosis Canada, Get Enough Helper App

One in three Canadians (35%) say they've heard of Osteoporosis Canada (7% are also familiar with its role/mission, while 28% only know it by name), leaving two in three (65%) who have never heard of the organization. Awareness of the Get Enough Helper app, which helps users track what they eat every day, is at 14%, with 2% of Canadians having installed it on their phone or tablet.

* The 10-question quiz was graded as follows: 9-10/10 = A; 8/10 = B; 7/10 = C; 6/10 = D; 0-5/10 = F.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between June 28 to July 7, 2016, on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada. For this survey, a sample of 2,541 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
(416) 324-2002
Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

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