title: Quality Nutrition Care: Measuring Hospital Staff's Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices.
abstract: Understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of hospital staff is needed to improve care activities that support the detection/prevention/treatment of malnutrition, yet quality measures are lacking. The purpose was to develop (study 1) and assess the administration and discriminative potential (study 2) of using such a KAP measure in acute care. In study 1, a 27-question KAP questionnaire was developed, face validated (n = 5), and tested for reliability (n = 35). Kappa and Intraclass Correlation (ICC) were determined. In study 2, the questionnaire was sent to staff at five diverse hospitals (n = 189). Administration challenges were noted and analyses completed to determine differences across sites, professions, and years of practice. Study 1 results demonstrate that the knowledge/attitude (KA) and the practice (P) subscales are reliable (KA: ICC = 0.69 95% CI 0.45-0.84, F = 5.54,p< 0.0001; P: ICC = 0.84 95% CI 0.68-0.92, F = 11.12,p< 0.0001). Completion rate of individual questions in study 2 was high and suggestions to improve administration were identified. The KAP mean score was 93.6/128 (range 51-124) with higher scores indicating more knowledge, better attitudes and positive practices. Profession and years of practice were associated with KAP scores. The KAP questionnaire is a valid and reliable measure that can be used in needs assessments to inform improvements to nutrition care in hospital.
authors: School of Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. cvlaur@uwaterloo.ca.|The Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme, c/o MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK. cvlaur@uwaterloo.ca.
authors: Celia
authors: C
authors: Laur
authors: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Grand River Hospital, Kitchener, ON N2G 1G3, Canada. hannah.marcus@grhosp.on.ca.
authors: Hannah
authors: H
authors: Marcus
authors: The Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme, c/o MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK. sumantra.ray@mrc-ewl.cam.ac.uk.
authors: Sumantra
authors: S
authors: Ray
authors: Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, Waterloo, ON N2J 0E2, Canada. hkeller@uwaterloo.ca.|Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. hkeller@uwaterloo.ca.
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Keller
keywords: hospital staff; knowledge, attitudes and practices; measurement; nutrition care