Assessment of the Knowledge of Basic Nutrition among Trainee Doctors and Nurses in a Regional University Hospital: Health Professionals and Nutrition

Background: Health professionals are often required to answer patients’ questions about nutrition and to provide them with the appropriate guidelines. Aim: Το evaluate fundamental dietary knowledge in a sample of house officers and nurses in a Greek regional university hospital. Method: A sample of 101 health professionals (35 trainee doctors and 66 nurses) participated in the study. A short questionnaire consisting of five multiple choice questions was administered. The data were analysed using the x² test, with statistical significance set at p=0.05. Results: The majority of both doctors and nurses did not know which dietary constituents increase blood triglycerides. Compared with 69.7% of nurses, 57.1% of trainee doctors answered correctly which is the primary lipid in olive oil (p=0.016), and 60.0% of doctors, compared with 13.6% of nurses reported knowing that eating two eggs per day does not increase blood cholesterol (p<0.001). No statistical differences were observed depending on the age, sex or specialty of the health professionals. Conclusions: The level of nutritional knowledge of health professionals is in question, as indicated by the serious deficits observed in various nutritional fundamental issues.