Evaluation of Microbiota Awareness Among the Healthcare Professionals in Kars Harakani State Hospital

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate microbiota awareness among the healthcare professionals in Kars Harakani State Hospital by their gender, educational status, marital status, and occupational groups. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between 1-31 December 2023 with the participation of the healthcare professionals (n=329) working at Kars Harakani State Hospital. In the study, a questionnaire form inquiring about sociodemographic characteristics and Microbiota Awareness Scale (MAS) were used. MAS consists of the subfactors of “general information”, “product information”, “chronic disease”, and “probiotic and prebiotic”. Results: Product information, chronic disease, and probiotic and prebiotic subscale scores and MAS total scale scores of females were found to be higher than males. The general information mean score of those with graduate education levels was higher than those with associate degree levels. The product information score of the married participants was determined to be higher than the single participants. The general information mean score of physicians was higher compared to the mean scores of nurses and technicians, while the product information mean score of technicians was lower than the mean scores of physicians, nurses, and midwives. The chronic disease mean score of nurses was higher than that of physicians, and their probiotic and prebiotic mean score and MAS total scale mean score were higher compared to the mean scores of technicians. Conclusion: Microbiota awareness levels among healthcare professionals vary according to their occupational groups.