Comparison of Nutrition Knowledge, Confidence and Attitudes Across Four Health Professional Programs at WVU

A.L. Pampalone*, R.A. Wattick, F Panagakos and MD Olfert, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Education (Biological & Biochemical Sciences) 

Student’s Major: Biology 

Given the role nutrition plays in the prevention of chronic disease, future health professionals need a greater understanding of nutrition and competence in applying skills related to optimal nutrition. This study compared nutrition knowledge and competence between WVU students enrolled in one of four health professional programs (dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy) using a peer-validated survey tool, Nutrition Competence questionnaire (NUTCOMP). Participant responses (n=258) by program as a percentage of total program population were dentistry (n=39) at 19.5%, Medicine (n=43) at 11%, Pharmacy (n=105) at 35% and nursing (n=71) at 18%. Mean scores in confidence about nutrition and chronic disease (NCD), confidence in nutrition skills (NS), and attitudes towards nutrition care (ATNC) were 17± 0.2 out of 25, 30 ±0.39 out of 45 and 27± 0.2 out of 30 respectively. One-way ANOVA and Wilcoxon analyses were used to analyze relationships between parametric and non-parametric variables, respectively. Out of a maximum score of 100, nursing had the highest mean score at 78.6 ± 1.17, while pharmacy the lowest mean score at 73.0 ± 0.96. Formal assessment as part of the student’s curriculum correlated significantly with high NCD, NS and total scores (p<.0001, p<.0001, and p=.0005, respectively). Students within these programs had high attitudes regarding nutrition as it pertains to patient care and wish to learn more about nutrition within their program. However, they display low confidence in using nutrition care in their future practice. Increasing nutrition education and evaluation could alleviate these discrepancies in nutrition knowledge and confidence among programs. 

Funding: WVU school of Dentistry 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: An External Internship or Other Type of Program