Knowledge of registered mental health nurses about the role of nutrition in the management of Schizophrenia at Pantang hospital in the greater Accra Region of Ghana

Abstract

Schizophrenia is an enduring mental condition that affects about 26 million people each year globally. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of Registered Mental Nurses (RMNs) in Psychiatric Hospital, Pantang about the role of nutrition in the management of schizophrenia. Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. Systematic sampling was used to select 170 RMNs for the study. A questionnaire was developed to collect data from the respondents. The processing of data was done with the use of the SPSS and all the research questions were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results from the study indicate that the RMNs showed an overall positive knowledge about the management methods of schizophrenia, but most did not know the recommended period to detect treatment resistance and when to stop PACT treatment. However, many did not accept that eating less nutritious food has a correlation with schizophrenia. Lastly, the study found that knowledge about the dietary composition of schizophrenic patients was also fair enough among the RMNs, aside from most of them not knowing much about gluten-containing food substances. The study recommended that mental health training institutions must emphasise on enough courses on nutrition to help increase the knowledge of future RMNs on the correlation between nutrition and schizophrenia.