Hello my name is Corinne and I am a Specialist Physiotherapist working at Milton surgery.

As part of my Master’s Research Project I have developed an online questionnaire (which should only take 5-10 minutes of your time) to help me understand whether adults aged 65 or over might be at risk of having a condition called ‘osteoporosis’, along with current levels of physical activity and any falls or balance concerns.

If you have consented to receive emails or texts from the surgery you should be receiving a message from me.

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a silent condition that affects the density and strength of your bones and can put you at a higher risk of a fracture as you get older.  Even if you already have osteoporosis, please complete the questionnaire as it is also checking your current levels of activity and whether you have either recently fallen or feel at risk of falling. Please be as honest as you can with your answers.

What will happen if I am found to be at risk of osteoporosis?

If you are shown to be at risk of either falling or having osteoporosis, I will personally contact you to invite you for a consultation, to discuss the findings and your options. Early treatment can help to reduce the risk of future fractures.  You will also have the choice to receive an email for more information about osteoporosis and some health and lifestyle advice.

Will my personal information be kept confidential?

Your information will only be visible to myself and certain staff at Milton surgery and stored confidentially onto your medical records. Your personal information will not be included as part of my research project. Anonymised data will be used to analyse the number of people that respond to the questionnaire and how many are identified with osteoporosis or at risk of falling.

Further Information

If you have any further questions about the content, purpose or legitimacy of this questionnaire you can contact me via email on c.birch2@nhs.net or via an enquiry on AskMyGP. If you would like a copy of my final research, please contact me via my university email corinne2.birch@live.uwe.ac.uk.

How do I access the questionnaire?

If you have not received a message from me, are aged 65 or over and would like to take part please contact me through AskMyGp.

Thank you so much for your support

Corinne Birch

The project has been reviewed and approved by the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England University Research Ethics Committee. Any comments, questions or complaints about the ethical conduct of this study can be addressed to the Research Ethics Committee at the University of the West of England at:   Researchethics@uwe.ac.uk

UWE Supervisor Dr Ann Smith 0117 32 86852 – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4355-229X