Assessing Nutrition Knowledge in Future Healthcare Professionals

Class of 2015 AbstractObjectives: The purpose of this study was to measure and compare basic nutritional knowledge in first year health professional students. Authors hypothesized that nursing students would have more nutritional knowledge since a nutrition prerequisite was required. Methods: In fall 2013 authors’ surveyed 244 subjects at a University, comprising of first-year medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed utilizing a print-based questionnaire containing 3 descriptive and 14 multiple-choice questions (21 total points). Each college’s average score was compared using chi-square analysis. The a priori alpha was 0.05 (Bonferroni correction = 0.016). Results: The overall response rate was 93%; 91%, 97%, and 92% for Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing, respectively. Average scores per college were: 6.50±1.76, 5.88±2.00, and 5.72±2.08, respectively. Analyses showed no significant difference between groups (p>0.016). Conclusions: Although no difference in nutritional knowledge was identified between groups, the low scores reflect insufficient knowledge and suggest the need to re-evaluate curricula.This item is part of the Pharmacy Student Research Projects collection, made available by the College of Pharmacy and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact Jennifer Martin, Librarian and Clinical Instructor, Pharmacy Practice and Science, jenmartin@email.arizona.edu