title: An assessment of factors affecting consumption of entrée items by hospital patients.
abstract: Seventy-one hospitalized patients completed surveys pertaining to their attitudes toward factors affecting food consumption and food preferences. Patients were divided into two groups, those who finished the entrée and those who did not. Appetite and aroma were found to be the principal factors affecting food consumption. Mood, length of hospitalization, education level, appearance of the food, cleanliness of the service, foodservice ratings, health care ratings, and temperature of the food did not affect consumption.
mesh_terms: D001066:Appetite; D001290:Attitude; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D005521:Food Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013696:Temperature