Determination of knowledge levels and the consumption status of probiotic products of healthcare workers at Anamur State Hospital

This study was carried out with 156 female and 54 male healthcare workers at Anamur State Hospital in Anamur province of Mersin, with 210 healthcare workers of all ages and professions. In this descriptive study, the data were collected with the questionnaires conducted between May and June 2018. The socio-demographic status, weight, height, general nutritional habits, disease status, probiotic consumption status, probiotic consumption frequency and knowledge level about probiotics of healthcare workers were determined. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 20 program in Windows. Mean, standard deviation, number and percentage values were obtained from collected data. The findings are analyzed Chi-square test. The P value <0,05 is considered as significant difference between the groups. Evaluated findings show that 98.1% of healthcare workers have knowledge about probiotic foods. It was determined that more women (74.3%) were aware of probiotic foods but there was no significant relationship between the knowledge of probiotic foods and gender variability. Healthcare workers trained in undergraduate (41.7%) and associate (35.9%) degree programmes have more knowledge about probiotic foods. There was also no significant relationship between knowledge of probiotic nutrients and education status. Probiotic added nutrients were consumed by only 20% of the healthcare workers. The women (85.7%) consumed more probiotic added nutrients. Healthcare workers have undergraduate education (57.1%) consumed more probiotic added nutrients. There was a significant relationship between consumption of probiotic supplemented foods and education status (p <0.05).There was also a significant relationship between consumption of probiotic added nutrients and BMI (p <0.05).