Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (K-A-P) of Cancer Nutrition in Chinese Medical Staff

摘要

Objective The present study was designed to investigate knowledge,attitude,and practice(K-A-P)toward cancer nutrition among medical staff in China,and to provide a basis for nutritional oncology training in clinical oncology practice in China in order to improve clinical treatment outcomes.Method This was a multicenter,cross-sectional study involving 3036 clinicians selected from 138 hospitals in 13 provinces across China.KAP scores were collected via questionnaires.Results The overall mean K score was 41.26±23.68,with a pass rate of 35.31%and honoring rate of 12.48%,respectively.The overall mean A score was 82.23±12.63,with pass rate of 96.57%and honoring rate of 69.37%,respectively.The overall mean P score was 73.03±15.06,with a pass rate of 85.64%and honoring rate of 39.86%,respectively.The correlation coefficient between K and A scores was 0.136(P0.05).The K-A-P scores,and their associated pass rates and honoring rates among doctors were higher than that among nurses and medical technicians(P0.05).Mean K-A-P scores and their associated pass rates and honoring rates in clinicians with higher degrees were superior,compared with those with lower degrees(P0.05).However,higher P scores and associated pass rates were observed in staff from general hospitals than that from other settings(P<0.05).Over half(58.41%)of the medical staff spent less than 10%of their work time on nutritional education.About half(52.71%)of the medical staff expressed desires to work on nutritional research projects.Nutritional knowledge of medical staff primarily came from work experience(66.22%),reference textbooks and journals(65.40%),and formal education(61.25%).Conclusion While medical staff in China demonstrated positive attitude and good practice in nutritional therapy,they need more training to improve nutritional knowledge.