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Most Commonly Asked Nutritional Questions for Athletic Trainers

Uzelac, Michael John, II
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1461879520

Abstract Details

, Master of Science, University of Toledo, Exercise Science.
Context: Athletic trainers (ATC’s) are commonly asked nutritional questions from athletes and coaches. Since ATC’s are commonly the primary source of health care related topics for athletes, it is important that ATC’s are comfortable and confident in being able to respond to these questions. A list of competencies has been developed by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) as a minimum of what needs to be taught in an accredited program. There is yet to be research on if the educational competencies completely prepare ATC’s for these situations. Objective: To determine what nutritional questions ATC’s are most commonly and determine how confident ATs are in answering these questions or knowing when to refer. Design: Descriptive Study Setting: Online survey. Patients or Other Participants: 1,000 certified athletic trainers. Intervention(s): The survey contained 93 questions (9 history/background, 84 assessment). The history/background questions were multiple choice with the ability to write in answers. The assessment questions were designed with a 5 point Likert scale. Main Outcome Measures: Frequency of, and confidence in answering questions about dietary recommendation, meal plans, weight management, eating disorders, supplements, body composition, and fluid replacement. Results were viewed as exploratory due to a low response rate leaving the study with not enough power to produce significant findings. Results: Within the category of general nutrition 24% ± 18% reported they never receive the questions asked, 38% ± 10% reported yearly, 31% ± 14% reported monthly, 7% ± 6% reported weekly, and 0% ± 1% reported daily. Weight management and body composition category found that 23% ± 7% reported never, 47% ± 8% reported yearly, 25% ± 7% reported Monthly, 4% ± 3% reported weekly, and 0% ± 0% reported daily. Eating disorders and disordered eating category found 48% ± 16% reported never, 48% ± 13% reported yearly, 5% ± 2% reported monthly, 0% ± 0% reported weekly, and 0% ± 0% reported daily. Performance enhancing and recreational supplements and drugs category found 29% ± 12% reported never, 46% ± 7% reported yearly, 24% ± 8% reported monthly, 1% ± 2% reported weekly, and 0% ± 0% reported daily. The category of general nutrition as a whole had a reported confidence of 3.03±0.76. Within general nutrition, dietary recommendations/general nutrition had a reported confidence of 3.01±0.79, meal plans had a reported confidence of 3.35±0.66, and fluid had a reported confidence of 3.55±0.93. The category of weight management and body composition had a reported confidence of 3.17±0.86. Within weight management and body composition, weight management had a reported confidence of 3.18±0.82, and body composition had a reported confidence of 3.16±0.90. The category of eating disorders and disordered eating had a reported confidence of 3.1±0.8. The category of performance enhancing and recreational supplements and drugs had a reported confidence of 2.60±0.92. Conclusion: The findings indicate that ATC’s are asked a wide spectrum of questions on a monthly basis. Moving forward in the transition to the Professional Master’s Degree, nutrition courses should remain a requirement and taught in a wide range other than just general nutrition. There should also be an emphasis properly identifying issues that need to be referred to other medical professionals. In order to determine if there is any true significance between the categories more research is necessary
Luke Donovan, PhD, AT, ATC (Committee Chair)
Sarah Long, MS, AT, ATC (Committee Member)
Janet Simon, PhD, AT, PhD (Committee Member)
Kinesiology

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Citations

  • Uzelac, II, M. J. (n.d.). Most Commonly Asked Nutritional Questions for Athletic Trainers [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1461879520

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Uzelac, II, Michael. Most Commonly Asked Nutritional Questions for Athletic Trainers. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1461879520.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Uzelac, II, Michael. "Most Commonly Asked Nutritional Questions for Athletic Trainers." Master's thesis, University of Toledo. Accessed APRIL 23, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1461879520

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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