Escuela de Salud Pública y Nutrición, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Diego de Robles y Pampite, S/N, Quito, Quito, Ecuador.
Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill-EE.UU, NC, USA.
BMC Prim Care. 2024 Aug 3;25(1):282. doi: 10.1186/s12875-024-02534-x.
Due to the significant increase in the prevalence of food-related diseases, the value that physicians place on nutritional advice may have implications for patient treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of the importance of nutritional intervention among physicians in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito's (USFQ) healthcare system.
This cross-sectional study employed a telephone survey administered to a subset of all medical doctors (MDs) working in the healthcare system clinics of USFQ between 2021 and 2022. Study participants were recruited through voluntary response sample from a complete list of 253 MD. The single time questionnaire consisted of a 22-item validated survey in which attitudes, self-perceived capacity, and knowledge about nutrition ofmedical doctors were evaluated. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, two-sided t test, bivariate associations and linear and logistic regressions.
136 MDs completed the survey yielding a response rate of 54%. Our analysis grouped participants into clinical (CE) and non-clinical specialties, hereafter referred to as surgical MDs. While a higher percentage of physicians in CE are confident in their ability to provide examples of recommended food portions based on national or international guidelines, 1 in 10 do not know how to use and interpret BMI or waist circumference, and around 1 in 3 do not know how many calories there are in one gram of fat, protein, or carbohydrates, and their basic metabolic functions. Almost all survey participants believe MDs can have an impact on the eating behavior of a patient if time is used to discuss the problem, however, almost half of survey participants believe nutrition counseling is not an effective use of time.
It is important to explore the perceptions and self-confidence of physicians around nutrition related issues. Our results demonstrated that nearly 1 in 4 surgical MDs do not feel capable of recognizing nutritional risk in patients, which highlights the essentiality of physicians having an updated understanding of basic nutrition principles. Future research should examine how commonly MDs refer patients to nutritionists/dietitians, as well as strategies for improving physician knowledge on basic nutrition concepts.
由于与食物相关的疾病患病率显著增加，医生对营养建议的重视程度可能对患者的治疗产生影响。本研究旨在评估基多圣弗朗西斯科大学（USFQ）医疗系统医生对营养干预重要性的认知。
这是一项横断面研究，采用电话调查的方式，于 2021 年至 2022 年期间对 USFQ 医疗系统诊所的所有医生（MD）进行了抽样调查。研究对象通过自愿应答从 253 名 MD 的完整名单中招募。单次问卷调查包括 22 个项目，评估了医生的态度、自我感知能力和营养知识。使用描述性统计、双侧 t 检验、双变量关联以及线性和逻辑回归对数据进行分析。
共有 136 名 MD 完成了调查，应答率为 54%。我们的分析将参与者分为临床（CE）和非临床专业，以下简称外科 MD。虽然 CE 中更高比例的医生对根据国家或国际指南提供推荐食物份量的示例有信心，但仍有 1/10 的医生不知道如何使用和解释 BMI 或腰围，约 1/3 的医生不知道一克脂肪、蛋白质或碳水化合物有多少卡路里，以及它们的基本代谢功能。几乎所有的调查参与者都认为，如果医生有时间讨论这个问题，他们可以影响患者的饮食习惯，但近一半的调查参与者认为营养咨询不是有效利用时间的方式。
探讨医生对营养相关问题的看法和自信是很重要的。我们的结果表明，近 1/4 的外科 MD 认为自己无法识别患者的营养风险，这突出了医生更新基本营养知识的必要性。未来的研究应考察医生通常如何将患者转介给营养师/饮食学家，以及改善医生对基本营养概念的认识的策略。
