Nutritional knowledge of primary health care physicians in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To determine the nutritional knowledge of primary care physicians.

METHODS: A validated questionnaire with multiple-choice questions was distributed to 125 physicians, working in the Ministry of Health (MOH) primary health care centers in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between March and August 2006.

RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 91 of 125 physicians (72.8%). The mean number for correctly answered questions was 8.34 out of 16 questions (52.1%). The 95% confidence interval was (51.6-52.6). Physicians who described their nutritional knowledge as poor were 74 (81%). The results indicated that physicians are generally aware of nutritional information related to common prevalent topics related to adequate intake level of calcium for adults, the protective effect of potassium in hypertension, the preventive action of fruits and vegetables against cancer, toxic vitamins if consumed excessively, and the nutrients associated with the prevention of neural tube defects, scoring between 70-90%. In contrast, physicians showed poor knowledge regarding other important topics in nutrition, such as biochemical structures of different types of fat, other updated topics that are supposed to be covered during continuing medical education, such as the role of soluble fiber in lowering blood cholesterol level, omega-3 fat in preventing thrombosis, and the effectiveness of short-term diet plans; these scored less than 60%.

CONCLUSION: These results showed that physicians need more training on nutrition. Nutrition should be an essential part in the curriculum of medical schools and continuing medical education for primary health care physicians.