Interesse, habilidade autopercebida no diagnóstico da desnutrição hospitalar e conhecimento médico sobre nutrição: estudo transversal em programas de residências médicas em Belo Horizonte.

Abstract

Literature shows that the approach to Nutrition is insufficient in undergraduate and graduate medical education courses. At the same time, the nutritional care of hospitalized patients and especially the early identification of malnourished patients is important for their clinical evolution during and after hospitalization. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the interest of resident physicians in hospital malnutrition, their self-perceived ability to address it, as well as to estimate their level of knowledge on basic nutrition topics. To this end, questionnaires were applied to incoming physicians as well as to those who were already attending Medical Residency Programs in hospital institutions. A sample of 100 residents took part in the study. Of those, 58% (n=58) were able to estimate the time taken in approaching the topics of "Nutrition or Malnutrition" in undergraduate medical studies. However, 61.7%, that is, 31 of them, pointed out that there was a focus on the subject in less than one term in college. It was observed that, despite the short time spent in teaching about Nutrition, the interest in the topic evaluated on a scale of 1-10 was considered high. The importance of nutritional assessment of hospitalized patients scored an average of 9.6 (SD 0.80); the interest in the treatment of malnutrition of hospitalized patients scored an average of 8.7 (SD 1.65); and the relevance of receiving information on the nutritional treatment of hospitalized patients scored an averageof 9.5 (SD 0.97).When asked about their ability to deal with hospital malnutrition, more than half of the residents confirmed their difficulties in facing the topic: 73% (n=73) of the participants stated that it was difficult for them to identify hospitalized patients at nutritional risk, 57% (n=57) said they did not know the technique to perform nutritional assessment of those patients and 61% (n=61) indicated that they were unable to draw up a nutritional therapeutic plan for them. The level of knowledge of the residents was evaluated and the average score in the test of knowledge in general topics of Nutrition was 6.02 (SD 1.41). 37% (n=37) of the residents scored below average. The study shows that there is a high interest of resident physicians in the topic of hospital malnutrition. However, most residents do not feel prepared to identify, diagnose, and draw up a plan for treatment.The conclusion is that, although the topic is identified as relevant, it is still not adequately addressed in undergraduate and graduate medical courses. The estimated level of the residents’ knowledge on Nutrition, as described in works already published, was found to be low and demonstrates the need for curricular stimulation to improve the ability of physicians in dealing with Clinical Nutrition, especially hospital malnutrition, in undergraduate and Medical Residency Programs.