Abstract
Nutrition care delivered in primary health care setting is an effective and necessary preventive health care measure. General practitioners (GPs) nutrition knowledge is related to their nutrition care practice. The aim of this study was to explore the nutrition knowledge of Croatian GPs, and to investigate its connection with the implementation of nutrition care in GPs’ offices. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 17.0% of randomly selected GPs, from May to July 2013, via an anonymous questionnaire. The study showed that only 35.8% of the Croatian GPs had an adequate level of nutrition knowledge (five or more correct answers to nutrition questions). The study further revealed that females, GPs with additional education in nutrition and GPs who had not suffered from chronic diseases with poor nutrition posing as a risk factor had better nutrition knowledge (p = 0.029, p < 0.001 and p = 0.041, respectively). The Spearman rank correlation between GPs’ nutrition knowledge and the implementation of nutrition care in their offices during daily work with patients was rs = −0.190 (p < 0.001). To provide nutrition care in GPs’ offices in Croatia, strategies for improving GPs’ nutrition knowledge are needed.
Highlights
Nutrition care is an important component of healthcare that plays a critical role in the prevention and treatment of majority of chronic non-communicable diseases which are leading causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world [1,2]
The study included 17.0% (444/2.612) of doctors who work in primary health care offices in Croatia, and the study participant sample was representative for this population of Croatian doctors
This study demonstrated that the majority of Croatian General practitioners (GPs) (80.5%) who provide such care only for patients considered at risk with regard to their poor nutrition and/or elevated body mass index while 19.5% of GPs provide nutrition care for all patients regardless of their individual health risks
Summary
Nutrition care is an important component of healthcare that plays a critical role in the prevention and treatment of majority of chronic non-communicable diseases which are leading causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world [1,2]. Nutrition care delivered in primary health care setting is an effective and necessary preventive health care measure for the prevention of the chronic non-communicable diseases [5]. Health workers in primary health care settings are important providers of nutrition care because they can motivate even healthy individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles [2,3]. The nutrition care practices of physicians in the primary care setting is strongly influenced by their nutrition knowledge [7,8,9,10]. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge of Croatian GPs about nutrition, and to evaluate the interconnection between their knowledge and implementation of nutrition care in GPs’ offices
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