Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the change in the perception of self-efficacy of Primary Health Care professionals to provide dietary advice using the Protocols based on the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines for Individual Dietary Advice, after completing a massive online open course (MOOC). METHODS: Uncontrolled community trial. The study population comprises degree-holding healthcare professionals working in Primary Health Care in 64 small municipalities in Brazil. The intervention was a massive online open course. The outcome was assessed by a validated scale that measures the perception of self-efficacy to provide dietary advice based on the Protocols based on the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines. The mean score was calculated before and after the intervention and the change in score was tested with paired t-test (p-value<0.05). RESULTS: Among the 1,201 health professionals, the average self-efficacy score increased from 23.71 to 37.31 after the intervention (p-value<0.001), an increase that was significant in all professional categories. CONCLUSION: The massive online open course increased the perception of self-efficacy of Primary Health Care professionals to provide individual dietary advice based on the Protocols based on the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines.