Effect of Healthy Lunch and Snack Meal on Reaction Time and Well-being of Physicians and Nursing Staff (Go-No-Go)

Nutrition Intervention Clinical Trial

Official title:

Long-term Effect of Healthy Lunch and Snack Meal on Reaction Time and Well-being: A Randomised Controlled Intervention in Physicians and Nursing Staff.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01739569
• Other study ID #: EFFECT.A01.2012
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 2012
• Est. completion date: December 2012

Study information

• Verified date: December 2022
• Source: Copenhagen University Hospital at Herlev
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of increased availability of healthy food and drink during working hours on reaction time and well-being in physicians and nursing staff.

Hospital medical staff often works long and hectic hours, without adequate meal or rest breaks in order to provide 24-hour care. This is a concern, as not only the staff's well-being is important to the individual welfare, but it is also vital to the quality and safety of the care their patients receive. The investigators believe that by focusing on physicians and nursing staffs nutrition the investigators will see a positive effect on staff performance and well-being - and thus ultimately possibly on patient safety.

Hypothesis: The provision of healthy lunch and snack meal during working hours for a period of 4 weeks will improve reaction time and well-being compared to habitual diet in physicians, nurses and nursing assistants.

Description:

The study is designed as a randomised controlled 2 x 4 weeks cross-over trial, initiated with a 1-week run-in period. The study sample will consist of 60 volunteer physicians, nurses and nursing assistants from Herlev University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. A healthy lunch and snack meal meeting the current danish diet recommendations will be delivered daily during all working days in the intervention period. During the control period, the participants are requested to maintain their habitual dietary intake at work. Reaction time will be assessed by reaction time test Go/No-Go, a subtest of Test-battery for Attention Performance. Changes in mood will be measured by the Profile of Mood State questionnaire. In addition, dietary intake, level of physical activity and palatability of the intervention diet will be registered.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 60
• Est. completion date: December 2012
• Est. primary completion date: December 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 20 Years to 70 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Employed in Herlev University Hospital as physician, nurse or nursing assistant (males and females)

• Age 20-70 years

• BMI 18,5-30 kg/m2

• Work at least 30 h/wk

• Have daily contact with patients and/or have responsibilities that may affect patient safety

• Primarily work in day- or evening shifts during the study period

• Not having any intentions of loosing weight or changing lifestyle habits during the study period

• Not suffer from any diseases that might affect dietary intake (e.g. food allergies, food intolerance)

• Not dine in the staff canteen, the Diastole, more than once a week

• Be able to write and understand the Danish language

Exclusion Criteria:

• For those working >35 h/wk having holiday/ time off duty for more than 9 consecutive days during the study period.

• For those working <35 h/wk having holiday/time off duty for more than 5 consecutive days during the study period

• Not to be able to attend the planned tests in the study

• Pregnancy

• Intensive physical exercise (e.g. strength training) > 5 hours/wk

• Suffer from food allergies or - intolerance

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Nutrition Intervention

Intervention

Other:
• Dietary treatment
Dietary treatment with healthy lunch and snack meal during working hours

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Denmark	EFFECT, Copenhagen University Hospital at Herlev	Herlev	Copenhagen

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Copenhagen University Hospital at Herlev

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Denmark, 

References & Publications (1)

Leedo E, Beck AM, Astrup A, Lassen AD. The effectiveness of healthy meals at work on reaction time, mood and dietary intake: a randomised cross-over study in daytime and shift workers at an university hospital. Br J Nutr. 2017 Jul;118(2):121-129. doi: 10. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Reaction-time	Differences in reaction-time, as measured by the reaction time test Go/No-Go, a subtest of Test-battery for Attentional Performance from baseline (week 0) to week 4 in the intervention period and week 4 in the control period.	week 0, week 5 and week 9
Secondary	Dietary intake	Differences in dietary intake with respect to macronutrient composition, meal pattern and choice of food items measured by self-reported records during 4 working days using a standardized dietary record form	Week 0, week 5, week 9
Secondary	Physical activity	Differences in 24-hours physical activity measured by self-reported records during four working days using a standardized physical activity record form.	Week 0, week 5, week 9
Secondary	Palatability of the diet eaten during working hours	Differences in palatability of the intervention diet compared to the control diet measured by scores using a specific and standardized Visual Analouge Scale (VAS-scores).	Week 0, week 5 and week 9
Secondary	Well-being	Differences in selfreported well-being, as measured by the POMS Questionaire (McNair et.al. Manual of the Profile of Mood States. San Diego:Educational and Industrial Testing Service;1981) form baseline (week 0) to week 4 in the intervention period and week 4 in the control period.	Week 0, week 5 and week 9