TY - JOUR
T1 - Healthcare Providers' Knowledge of Diets and Dietary Advice
AU - Arora, Sonali
AU - Atreya, Auras R.
AU - Bernstein, Adam M.
AU - Kleppel, Reva
AU - Friderici, Jennifer
AU - Schramm, Sarah
AU - Lagu, Tara
AU - Rothberg, Michael B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by The Southern Medical Association.
PY - 2015/9/5
Y1 - 2015/9/5
N2 - Objectives Little is known about healthcare providers' knowledge of dietary evidence or about what dietary advice providers offer to patients. The objective of our study was to determine which diets providers recommended to patients and providers' beliefs about the evidence behind those recommendations. Methods This was a 22-question cross-sectional survey conducted between February 2013 and September 2013, in 45 ambulatory practices within two health systems. Attending physicians, housestaff, and advanced practitioners in internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, family medicine, cardiology, and endocrinology practices were audited. Providers' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about diet modification were collected. Knowledge scores were constructed based on the number of correct responses to specific questions. Results Of 343 provider responses, largely from primary care specialties (n = 3027, 90%), the top dietary recommendations were low-salt diet (71%) for hypertension, low-carbohydrate diet (64%) for uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, low saturated fat diet (73%) for dyslipidemia, low-calorie diet (72%) for obesity, and low saturated fat diet (63%) for coronary heart disease. Providers believed that 51% of diet recommendations were supported by randomized trial evidence when they were not. Respondents' overall knowledge of randomized trial evidence for dietary interventions was low (mean [standard deviation] knowledge score 44.3% [22.4%], range 0.0%-100.0%). The survey study from two health systems, using a nonvalidated survey tool limits external and internal validity. Conclusions Providers report recommending different diets depending on specific risk factors and generally believe that their recommendations are evidence based. Substantial gaps between their knowledge and the randomized trial evidence regarding diet for disease prevention remain.
AB - Objectives Little is known about healthcare providers' knowledge of dietary evidence or about what dietary advice providers offer to patients. The objective of our study was to determine which diets providers recommended to patients and providers' beliefs about the evidence behind those recommendations. Methods This was a 22-question cross-sectional survey conducted between February 2013 and September 2013, in 45 ambulatory practices within two health systems. Attending physicians, housestaff, and advanced practitioners in internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, family medicine, cardiology, and endocrinology practices were audited. Providers' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about diet modification were collected. Knowledge scores were constructed based on the number of correct responses to specific questions. Results Of 343 provider responses, largely from primary care specialties (n = 3027, 90%), the top dietary recommendations were low-salt diet (71%) for hypertension, low-carbohydrate diet (64%) for uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, low saturated fat diet (73%) for dyslipidemia, low-calorie diet (72%) for obesity, and low saturated fat diet (63%) for coronary heart disease. Providers believed that 51% of diet recommendations were supported by randomized trial evidence when they were not. Respondents' overall knowledge of randomized trial evidence for dietary interventions was low (mean [standard deviation] knowledge score 44.3% [22.4%], range 0.0%-100.0%). The survey study from two health systems, using a nonvalidated survey tool limits external and internal validity. Conclusions Providers report recommending different diets depending on specific risk factors and generally believe that their recommendations are evidence based. Substantial gaps between their knowledge and the randomized trial evidence regarding diet for disease prevention remain.
KW - dietary evidence
KW - dietary recommendations
KW - providers' knowledge
KW - randomized controlled trial evidence
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U2 - 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000000333
DO - 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000000333
M3 - Article
C2 - 26332479
AN - SCOPUS:84940906264
SN - 0038-4348
VL - 108
SP - 539
EP - 546
JO - Southern Medical Journal
JF - Southern Medical Journal
IS - 9
ER -