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Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices among senior medical students in Taiwan
1Department of Nutrition and Health Science, Taipei Medical College, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Objective:
Nutrition is an important issue in medical training, but the nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students in Taiwan have not been elucidated.
Methods:
This investigation was a need assessment that examined knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students in selected areas of nutrition. A national sample of 528 senior medical students from nine medical colleges in Taiwan participated in this study by completing a questionnaire.
Results:
On a 10-point scale, the average score of students on general and clinical nutritional knowledge was 5.99 +/- 1.51 and 5.15 +/- 1.77, respectively. The percentage of correct answers from questionnaires in both areas was 60% and 52%, respectively. Seventy-seven percent or more of the students reported that they either agreed or strongly agreed with four positive-attitude statements and either disagreed or strongly disagreed with two out of three negative-attitude statements. Between 30% and 61% of the students reported that they practice on nutrition-related individual behaviors.
Conclusions:
The knowledge, attitudes and practices of senior medical students in Taiwan suggest the need for education strategies to improve competence in the area of nutrition.