Impact of an Intervention Education Program on the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Dietitians

A cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in renal nutrition competencies among the dietitians. A total of 100 participants (50 participants for each group) will be select using simple random sampling. The education intervention program will be developed based on the literature review of the guidelines for the nutritional management of CKD by looking into all evidence-based practice guidelines of renal medical nutrition therapy. The education intervention will include five weeks of in-person education sessions. The education intervention program will cover five lessons including nutrition assessment for CKD, malnutrition, macro- and micronutrients deficiencies in CKD, nutrition intervention and counselling skills. The education program will be delivered through lectures, workshops, brainstorming and case studies using materials such as PowerPoints, videos, cards, posters, booklets and activities. The program will be offered online via Zoom software, and the learners will have the materials to review at home. The program will be provided in close collaboration between the researcher and the hospital's nutrition department. Data will be collected from four selected public hospitals in Jazan city, Saudi Arabia, by direct interview of the dietitians in the hospitals to determine the competency assessment on knowledge, attitude, and practice of renal nutrition. All respondents in the hospitals will be evaluated before the start of the program (baseline evaluation), after the final intervention session (post-intervention evaluation), and three months after intervention (three-month follow-up after intervention). Data will be analyzed by using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.