Symptom and Allergy Load Drives Food Allergy Distress

TOPLINE:

For adults, children, and caregivers, more symptoms and multiple food allergies and, for adults and caregivers, adrenaline autoinjector prescriptions were linked to more psychological distress.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional online survey involving 1329 adults (mean age, 38.1 years; 70.2% women) and 1373 caregivers (mean age, 37.6 years; 75.1% women) of children with food allergy to identify factors associated with specific types of food allergy‐related psychological distress.
• Participants reported types of food allergy-related distress experienced by themselves or their children.

TAKEAWAY:

• Female adults (mean difference, -3.74) and female caregivers (mean difference, -5.82; P < .001 for both) were more likely to experience multiple types of food allergy-related psychological distress than male adults.
• In children and caregivers, the likelihood of reporting more types of distress increased with allergy duration, whereas in adults and caregivers, it rose with prescriptions of adrenaline autoinjectors (P < .001 for all).
• Adults, children, and caregivers with a higher number of food allergies, more comorbid conditions, or more symptoms of food allergy were more likely to experience psychological distress (P < .001 for all).
• Adults and caregivers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the UK consistently reported higher rates of psychological distress than those from European countries or the US.

IN PRACTICE:

“Adults may find it beneficial to learn how to recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis, enabling them to more accurately assess their level of risk. In families with an allergic child, caregivers require more psychological support when the child is younger,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

R.C. Knibb, PhD, with Aston University, Birmingham, England, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online in Clinical and Translational Allergy.

LIMITATIONS:

This study lacked a validated distress scale, and the perceived severity of food allergy was not assessed. Participants were mostly White, women, and university-educated, limiting the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the online recruitment method and requirement for internet access likely introduced selection bias.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by Novartis, Aimmune Therapeutics, the National Peanut Board, and the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Some authors reported receiving research funding, grants, personal fees, or honoraria from and having other ties with various organizations and pharmaceutical companies, including some of the funding sources.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.