Abstracts Category : Other

Most Commonly Asked Nutritional Questions for AthleticTrainers

by Michael John Uzelac

Context: Athletic trainers (ATCs) are commonly askednutritional questionsfrom athletes and coaches. Since ATCs arecommonly the primary source of health carerelated topics forathletes, it is important that ATCs are comfortable and confidentinbeing able to respond to these questions. A list of competencieshas been developed bythe Commission on Accreditation of AthleticTraining Education (CAATE) as aminimum of what needs to be taughtin an accredited program. There is yet to beresearch on if theeducational competencies completely prepare ATCs forthesesituations. Objective: To determine what nutritional questionsATCs are mostcommonly and determine how confident ATs are inanswering these questions orknowing when to refer. Design:Descriptive Study Setting: Online survey. Patients orOtherParticipants: 1,000 certified athletic trainers. Intervention(s):The surveycontained 93 questions (9 history/background, 84assessment). The history/backgroundquestions were multiple choicewith the ability to write in answers. The assessmentquestions weredesigned with a 5 point Likert scale. Main OutcomeMeasures:Frequency of, and confidence in answering questions aboutdietary recommendation, meal plans, weight management, eatingdisorders, supplements, body composition, andfluid replacement.Results were viewed as exploratory due to a low response rateleavingthe study with not enough power to produce significantfindings. Results: Within thecategory of general nutrition 24% 18% reported they never receive the questions asked,38% 10%reported yearly, 31% 14% reported monthly, 7% 6% reportedweekly,and 0% 1% reported daily. Weight management and bodycomposition category foundthat 23% 7% reported never, 47% 8%reported yearly, 25% 7% reported Monthly,4% 3% reported weekly,and 0% 0% reported daily. Eating disorders and disorderedeatingcategory found 48% 16% reported never, 48% 13% reported yearly,5% 2%reported monthly, 0% 0% reported weekly, and 0% 0%reported daily. Performanceenhancing and recreational supplementsand drugs category found 29% 12% reportednever, 46% 7% reportedyearly, 24% 8% reported monthly, 1% 2% reportedweekly, and 0% 0% reported daily. The category of general nutrition as a whole hadareported confidence of 3.030.76. Within general nutrition,dietaryrecommendations/general nutrition had a reported confidenceof 3.010.79, meal planshad a reported confidence of 3.350.66, andfluid had a reported confidence of3.550.93. The category of weightmanagement and body composition had a reportedconfidence of3.170.86. Within weight management and body composition,weightmanagement had a reported confidence of 3.180.82, and bodycomposition had areported confidence of 3.160.90. The category ofeating disorders and disordered eatinghad a reported confidence of3.10.8. The category of performance enhancing andrecreationalsupplements and drugs had a reported confidence of 2.600.92.Conclusion:The findings indicate that ATCs are asked a widespectrum ofAdvisors/Committee Members: Donovan, Luke (Committee Chair).