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GHENT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
Department of Bioanalysis
Laboratory of Food Analysis
Academic year 2015-2016
FOOD- AND NUTRITION-RELATED QUESTIONS IN THE
COMMUNITY PHARMACY:
AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN FLANDERS
Lize VANHIE
First Master of Pharmaceutical Care
Promotor
Prof. Dr. Apr. S. De Saeger
Commissioners
Dr. Apr. M. De Boevre
Dr. Apr. E. Mehuys

GHENT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
Department of Bioanalysis
Laboratory of Food Analysis
Academic year 2015-2016
FOOD- AND NUTRITION-RELATED QUESTIONS IN THE
COMMUNITY PHARMACY:
AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN FLANDERS
Lize VANHIE
First Master of Pharmaceutical Care
Promotor
Prof. Dr. Apr. S. De Saeger
Commissioners
Dr. Apr. M. De Boevre
Dr. Apr. E. Mehuys

COPYRIGHT
"The author and the promoters give the authorization to consult and to copy parts of this
thesis for personal use only. Any other use is limited by the laws of copyright, especially
concerning the obligation to refer to the source whenever results from this thesis are cited."
May 14, 2016
Promoter Author
Prof. dr. Apr. S. De Saeger Lize Vanhie

SUMMARY
Through the years, the role of the pharmacist has changed from preparation,
supply and control of medication to providing pharmaceutical care. Hence, pharmacists are
responsible for health education, including giving evidence-based advice concerning
nutrition. Pharmacy education has to follow this evolution. After a screening by the review
committee in 2010, a reformation of the pharmacy education followed, including food- and
nutrition-related courses. The new curriculum comprises two food- and nutrition-related
courses, called ‘Bromatology’ and ‘Special Nutrition’. In the context of the education
innovation projects, an observational study was carried out to unravel food- and nutrition-
related questions pharmacists are confronted with, in order to better align pharmacy
education with the professional field.
Every month, between July 2014 and April 2015, 136 master students conducting
their internship were asked to record the first two food- or nutrition-related questions they
were confronted with. Afterwards, they completed a questionnaire concerning the
motivation, subject, prior knowledge, conducted research, etc. These results were exported
to an excel file and interpreted. Students also chose 1 out of their 8 recorded cases to write
an essay about, comprising a scientifically-based advice in response to the patient’s
question. A panel of four reviewers scored 20 randomly chosen essays based on the
correctness, the scientific substantiation, the practical feasibility and the patient orientation
of the advice.
The 1,004 recorded questions were divided into 18 categories based on their
content. By combining the amount of questions in each category and the prior knowledge
of the students, recommendations towards education were made. Education about
interactions between food and drugs and about ingredients in food should remain as before,
as students had enough prior knowledge about these topics. A basic knowledge about
functional foods, novel foods, enteral and tube feeding, diet for phenylketonuria and E-
numbers should suffice in daily practice. General diet recommendations for the geriatric and
diabetic population should be addressed more in education. The topics pharmacy education
should focus on the most, however, are food supplements, baby food, healthy food and
nutritional recommendations, weight loss diets and products, high-protein foods,
vegetarianism, food for athletes, food safety and allergies and food-intolerances. In