Nutritional knowledge, attitude and related factors of nursing students at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2023: A mixed-methods study

Abstract

Objective: To describe the status of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and some related factors of nursing students at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2023. Subjects and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive design, combining qualitative and quantitative for 416 nursing students from years 1 to 4 in ThaiBinh University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The knowledge and attitude assessment questions were selected from a pool of sample questions covering the 7 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2014) topics. The maximum score for the general knowledge assessment is 26 points. The maximum score for the general attitude assessment is 99 points. Results: 5.5% of students had good general knowledge of nutrition. 39.9% of students had low attitudes towards nutrition. Fourth-year students had better knowledge and attitudes than first- to third-year students (respectively with OR=16.7; 95%CI=3.9-71.9 and OR=1.9; 95%CI=1.1-3.3). The factors of eating place, living place, and number of years of study were related to knowledge and attitude towards nutrition of students. Conclusion: The percentage of students with good knowledge about nutrition-related issues was quite high, however, the related nutrition-related attitudes were still low