Evaluation of Dietitians' Perception of Importance about Prerequisite Program in Foodservice Facilities

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the perception of importance about prerequisite program(PRP) of dietitians. A questionnaire was developed to achieve research objectives and sent to random samples of 450 dietitians by a mail from July to August in 2000 ; 242(54%) responses were analyzed. The respondents used three-point-scale to rate their perception of importance about PRP from 1-"will be necessary" to 3-"very important". All statistical analyses were conducted using SAS package(version 8.12) in order to have means, standard deviations, One-way analysis of variance, Duncan's multiple range test and t-test. The study results were summarized as follows. The rates of perception of importance about PRP were significantly different from 21 of the 37 contents among business and industry, health care and school foodservice and were significantly different from 16 of the 37 contents among direct and contract management(p<.05 or p<.01 or p<.001). Dietitians in business and industry had lowest perception of importance about PRP of other respondents. Generally, the item related to "employee hygiene practice" had the highest perception level score among PRP in foodservice facilities. Results indicate that there is a need for increased education of dietitians about PRP and appropriate practices.