Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
The University of Queensland, Australia.
Appetite. 2018 Jan 1;120:523-526. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.10.014. Epub 2017 Oct 10.
Hospital meals are important for supporting nutrition goals and the overall hospital experience. The aim of this study was to assess if patients' perceptions of quality attributes of hot meals were impacted by the type of plate on which the meal was served. Eligible patients selected from medical and/or surgical wards at a 929 bed acute care hospital were randomised to receive hot meals served on either ceramic or disposable plates at eight evening meals. Patients from a multi-centre trial of pre-packaged meals where re-thermalised meals were presented on a variety of colour and shaped disposable plates were included in a second phase. Patient assessment of meal quality was undertaken using the Meal Assessment Tool (MAT)(Hannan-Jones & Capra, 2017) with data collected by interview. In phase one, 137 eligible patients competed the MAT (response 46.8%), with results showing no significant difference in the rating of appearance, quality, expectations or satisfaction when meals were served on disposable or ceramic plates. In phase two data were collected from 6189 patients (response 47.4%). No practical difference in rating of meals was found in relation to colour and sectioning of plates, however a statistical but non-practical difference was found regarding plate shape, with meals served on oblong/rectangular plates rated more positively. Of 3078 comments made concerning the meals, 99 (3.2%) concerned the plates on which the meals were served. This study has shown that quality, appearance and taste of meals, rather than the serving ware are important to patients. Findings suggest that attending to other quality aspects of meals may be far more important than the plate itself, and deserve attention.
医院的膳食对于支持营养目标和整体医院体验非常重要。本研究旨在评估患者对热餐质量属性的感知是否受到餐盘类型的影响。从一家拥有 929 张病床的急性护理医院的内科和/或外科病房中选出符合条件的患者，随机分配在 8 顿晚餐中接受陶瓷或一次性餐盘提供的热餐。在一项多中心预包装餐试验中，对重新加热的餐食进行了评估，参与者包括使用各种颜色和形状的一次性餐盘的患者，这些患者被纳入第二阶段。使用膳食评估工具（MAT）（Hannan-Jones 和 Capra，2017）通过访谈收集患者对膳食质量的评估数据。在第一阶段，有 137 名符合条件的患者完成了 MAT（应答率为 46.8%），结果表明，在用一次性或陶瓷餐盘提供餐食时，外观、质量、期望和满意度的评分没有显著差异。在第二阶段，从 6189 名患者中收集了数据（应答率为 47.4%）。在餐盘颜色和分割方面，对餐食的评分没有实际差异，但在餐盘形状方面存在统计学上但非实际的差异，长方形/矩形餐盘的评分更高。在 3078 条关于餐食的评论中，有 99 条（3.2%）涉及提供餐食的餐盘。本研究表明，对患者而言，餐食的质量、外观和口味比餐盘更为重要。研究结果表明，关注餐食的其他质量方面可能比餐盘本身更为重要，值得关注。
