A Suggested Test to Measure the Level of Nutritional Awareness among Hospitals Staff: A Case Study of Minia Hospitals in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Minia University

Abstract

This research aims to measure the level of nutritional awareness among hospital staff. Therefore, the methodology is a semi-experimental. The data collection tool is a questionnaire designed for the employees of the hospital nutrition department. This research was based on a simple random sample, which included about 170 out of 200 employees in 47 hospitals in Minia, Egypt. The results indicated that the average of nutritional awareness level is 32.73 out of 50 (0.655) with a high standard deviation (7.28). Therefore, the coefficient of variance is 0.22. Therefore, the level of nutritional awareness is medium. Also, this research has proposed a nutritional awareness level measurement (NALM) test, as its reliability level (0.810) is statistically acceptable. In addition, the level of nutritional awareness (Y) is closely related to food safety (= R = 0.856), therapeutic nutrition (R = 0.822), nutrients (r = 0.723) and menu planning (r = 0.563). Moreover, the regression models for the level of nutritional awareness are: Y = 18.969 + 2.127 × nutrients level; Y = 22.375 + 3.266 × menu planning level; Y = 4.316 + 1.814 × food safety level; and Y = 12.894 + 2.672 × therapeutic nutrition level. Finally, this research presented a set of useful recommendations in the field of nutrition education.

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