Knowledge of Nutritional Concerns in Physically Active Females

NCT ID: NCT05589077

Last Updated: 2023-05-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 33 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-01-09
• Study Completion Date: 2023-05-05

Brief Summary

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine whether implementation of an educational tool for nutritional concerns in 18-25-year-old females who participate in sport increases their understanding of various nutritional concerns. By studying an educational tool geared towards nutritional concerns of the female athlete, clinicians can use the information to improve clinical practice and patient outcomes.

Procedure: Participants will be asked to complete a previously validated survey assessing knowledge of nutritional concerns of female athletes: the Female Athlete Triad, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, and eating disorders. The survey will be completed immediately pre- and post-receipt of the educational intervention. The intervention includes education on the previously mentioned nutritional concerns.

Detailed Description

The current study is a quasi-experimental study consisting of one virtual session on Qualtrics. Eligible participants (as determined via a screening questionnaire) will use a link to access the questionnaire online. The questionnaire will collect information on participant's demographic background. Then, participants compete a 37-item survey on nutritional concerns and rate their confidence in each answer. Participants were given a score of 1 if the answer was correct, and a score of -1 if the answer was incorrect. Corresponding to each Knowledge question was a Likert scale for confidence (i.e. "How confident are you in this response?"). Response options on the Confidence options ranged from 0 to 5, with 0 indicating "No confidence" and 5 indicating "Completely sure". The range of total scores for Knowledge ranged from -37 to +37 with +37 indicating greatest amount of knowledge. The total Confidence score was the sum of all confidence responses from each of the scored knowledge questions. The total number of Confidence points ranged from 0-148. A higher confidence score indicated greater confidence from the participant in their knowledge answers. Impact scores were also calculated to measure the total composite score of Knowledge plus Confidence to identify an increased understanding of all scores.

Impact scores will be calculated using the same procedure as Lodge et al. (2020): "The total points of impact score from the questionnaire range between +37 and -37. A percentage of impact can be calculated using the limits -37 to +37 of the impact score (range of 74 points). A score of 0 will have a percentage of 50%, a score of -37 will have a percentage of 0%, and a score of +37 will have a percentage of 100%. Each question has a score range between +1 and -1. One point is given for the correct answer and high confidence and one point is subtracted for the incorrect answer and high confidence. The score of the questions is reduced when the respondent has lower confidence in their answer. The scale of confidence corresponds to the following points for impact scoring: Confidence 4 = 1 point, Confidence 3 = 0.75 points, Confidence 2 = 0.5 points, Confidence 1 = 0.25 points, Confidence 0 = 0 points. For example, if the answer is correct with the lowest confidence (1), it is scored as 0.25. If the answer is incorrect with the lowest confidence (1), it is scored as -0.25. If the answer selected if "I don't know", or a confidence of zero (0) is selected, it is scored as zero. For questions of "choose all that apply" nature, each possible sub-answer is considered individually".1

Then, participants will engage in a 10-minute educational intervention. The intervention will cover all the information regarding nutritional concerns that were tested in the survey. Participants will repeat the same survey to test their knowledge and confidence in nutritional concerns. Lastly, participants will answer 10 follow-up questions.

Conditions

Nutritional Deficiency

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Knowledge Assessment and Educational Intervention

All participants will be asked to complete the pre-intervention survey assessing knowledge and confidence of female athlete nutritional concerns. Then participants will engage in an educational intervention on these same topics. Following the intervention, participants will repeat the same survey.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Education on Female Athlete Nutritional Concerns

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Visual and audio information presented within the Qualtrics system will cover topics on the Female Athlete Triad, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, and eating disorders.

Interventions

Education on Female Athlete Nutritional Concerns

Visual and audio information presented within the Qualtrics system will cover topics on the Female Athlete Triad, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, and eating disorders.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Female
• Ages 18-25
• Participate in organized sport

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 25 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Lauren Woelffer

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Locations

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Countries

United States

References

Lodge MT, Ackerman KE, Garay J. Knowledge of Triad and RED-S in Female Cross-Country Athletes and Support Staff. J Athl Train. 2021 Jul 30. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0175.21. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 34329432 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

22-1348

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id