Predictors of physicians’ practices related to nutritional counseling and management in Riyadh City

Available online 30 November 2011

Peer review under responsibility of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine.

Figures & data

Table 1 Physicians practice, skills and training of NC&M.

Variables	No (n = 266)	Percentage (%)
Practice/time spent in NC&M involves:
–Not practicing NC&M	75	28.2
–Assessment	37	13.9
–Therapy	41	15.4
–Individual education	107	40.2
–Group education	39	14.7
–Handouts/others	39	14.7
–All	21	7.9
Percentage of clinic time dedicated to NC&M [21.49 (20.54)]^a
<40	64	24.1
20–	67	25.2
<20	90	33.8
Not applicable	45	16.9
Percentage of patients placed on nutrition therapy [24.00 (000)]^a
<40	64	24.1
20–	75	28.2
<20	61	22.9
0 & Not applicable	66	24.8
Sort of nutritional advice usually given to patients
–No advice	34	12.0
–Disease specific	109	40.9
–General information about healthy eating	139	52.3
–Vitamin prescription	69	25.9
–Weight management	59	22.2
–Breast feeding	30	11.3
Self-assessment of NC&M skills [2.02 (0.81)]^a
1. Unsatisfactory	77	28.9
2. Moderate	10	41.0
3. Good	76	28.6
4. Outstanding	4	1.5
Resources used to get nutritional information:
Web based materials	105	39.5
Textbooks	123	46.2
Peer reviewed journals	46	17.3
Public magazines	61	22.9
Pamphlets	37	13.9
Others	18	6.7
Previous training in NC&M
–Yes	51	19.2
–No	215	80.8

a Mean (SD).

Figure 1 Percentage distribution of the physicians according to their knowledge levels.

Table 2 Physicians attitudes and perceptions regarding NC&M.

Scores of some determinants related to NC&M	Mean	SD	Observed range	Estimated range	Midpoint
Perceived relevancy to specialty	3.07	0.95	1–4	1–4	2.5
Perceived proficiency	2.03	0.82	1–4	1–4	2.5
Total perceived benefits	32.49	5.87	8–40	8–40	24.5
Total perceived barriers	25.61	4.33	9–35	7–35	22.5
Total attitude	53.38	7.34	35–76	16–80	32.5
Total self-efficacy	77.51	31.50	0–130	0–130	65

Table 3 Binary logistic regression of the NC&M practice among physicians with some independent variables.

Variables	B	S.E.	Sig.	Exp(B)	95% Confidence interval for EXP(B)
					Lower	Upper
Total knowledge score	0.147	0.058	0.012	1.158	1.033	1.297
Total attitude score	0.186	0.088	0.034	1.205	1.014	1.431
Total self-efficacy score	0.035	0.012	0.004	1.036	1.011	1.061
Total barriers score	0.165	0.228	0.470	1.179	0.754	1.845
Total benefits score	−0.028	0.068	0.677	0.972	0.850	1.111
Years of experience	−0.098	0.166	0.554	0.907	0.655	1.255
Hours of previous training	−0.068	0.281	0.809	0.934	0.539	1.621
Constant	−7.183	2.027	0.000	0.001

R² value 0.235.

SE = standard error, B = Beta.