Objective: This article presents a construct validation study for osteoporosis preventive behaviors based on a survey completed by 113 older adults. Methods: Participants were classified using stages of change for osteoporosis preventive behaviors according to an algorithm adapted from the Transtheoretical Model of health behavior change. Results: One-way analyses of variance and a hierarchical regression model indicate that stage of change location is significantly related to one’s level of knowledge about osteoporosis as well as age, gender, and educational attainment. These findings bring support to the validity of the instrument. Discussion: Findings from this study indicate that elders’ attitudes and knowledge about osteoporosis reflect public health messages heralding osteoporosis as the disease of the older White women. Significant health care expenditures in the nontargeted groups call for a revision in these messages. Further applications with more heterogeneous samples are necessary for thorough validation and reliability testing of the proposed instrument.
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