Expertise about herbs and dietary supplements among diverse health professionals

Table 2 Knowledge and Confidence scores by demographic and practice characteristics.

Characteristic	% Knowledge Items Answered Correctly	P value*	Confidence Scale (Range 19,95)	P value*
Overall mean	65.8 ± 10.7		52.5± 18.2
Profession (note 1†)		<.001		<.001
Physician/PA	70.3 ± 9.8		55.5 ± 18.5
Nurse	64.9 ± 9.3		54.2 ± 18.5
Nutritionist	68.1 ± 9.4		59.2 ± 17.3
Pharmacist	70.7 ± 10.2		59.8 ± 15.8
Student	60.5 ± 10.5		44.6 ± 15.7
Gender		.39		.30
Males	65.3 ± 11.3		51.5 ± 18.2
Females	66.0 ± 10.4		52.9 ± 18.2
Age (years) (note 2†)		<.001		<.001
≤30	61.8 ± 10.6		46.0 ± 16.4
31–40	69.4 ± 9.6		53.4 ± 16.6
41–50	68.6 ± 9.8		57.5 ± 18.9
>50	66.4 ± 10.1		55.1 ± 18.4
Practice				<.001
Faculty/In Practice	68.2 ± 10.0	<.001	56.6 ± 18.5
Trainees	62.5 ± 10.6		46.9 ± 16.3
Seen patients in last 30 days		<.001		<.001
Yes	67.6 ± 10.0		54.4 ± 18.0
No	61.8 ± 10.9		48.6 ± 18.2
Reside in North Carolina		.42		<.001
Yes	66.1 ± 9.6		54.6 ± 17.9
No	65.5 ± 11.5		50.7 ± 18.4
Use of HDS in past week	(note 3 †)	<.001
No	63.6 ± 10.8		52.0 ± 20.2	<.001
1–3	63.7 ± 10.6		50.7 ± 19.4
4–8	66.4 ± 10.4		52.1 ± 16.0
≥9	70.0 ± 9.7		56.4 ± 17.3

Note 1: Pairwise comparisons among the 5 professional groups for Knowledge: Students less than all others, P <.001. Nurses less than other professions, all P ≤ .001. Nutritionist less than Physicians, P = .02. Pairwise comparisons among the 5 professional groups for Confidence: Students less than each profession, P <.001; Nurses less than Dietitians (P =.004) and Pharmacists (P = .029); Physicians less than Dietitians, P = .03.
Note 2: Pairwise comparisons among the 4 age groups for Knowledge: ≤ 30 years old less than the other age groups, all P <.001; 31–40 and 41 – 50 greater than over 50 years old, P<0.05. Pairwise comparisons among the 4 age groups for Confidence: ≤ 30 years old less than the other age groups, all P <.001; 31–40 less than 41–50, P = .026.
Note 3: Pairwise comparisons among the 4 herb/supplement use groups for Knowledge: None and 1–3 less than 4–8 and ≥ 9, all P ≤ .003; 4–8 less than ≥ 9, P <.001. Pairwise comparisons among the 4 herb/supplement use groups for Confidence: None, 1–3, and 4–8 less than ≥9, all P ≤ .008.
*Kruskal Wallis Test for initial multiple group analysis; Mann Whitney U tests for two-group comparisons (same results obtained with T tests).
† Pairwise comparisons analyzed using Mann Whitney U tests

ISSN: 2662-7671