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The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study

Food allergy (FA) is an increasing global public health concern. Little is known about FA counsel in primary care clinics. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of FA in primary care clinics. It also aims to report the national primary care physicians’ current knowledge and...

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Autores principales: Al Hasan, Dalal, Al Hasan, Sara
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10659696/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37986319
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000035641
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author Al Hasan, Dalal
Al Hasan, Sara
author_facet Al Hasan, Dalal
Al Hasan, Sara
author_sort Al Hasan, Dalal
collection PubMed
description Food allergy (FA) is an increasing global public health concern. Little is known about FA counsel in primary care clinics. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of FA in primary care clinics. It also aims to report the national primary care physicians’ current knowledge and practices. An electronic cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to primary care physicians working at the Ministry of Health primary care clinics, across Kuwait’s’ 6 health districts, between May and June 2023. The questionnaire was made of 3 sections: participants’ demographic, FA counsel characteristics, participants’ knowledge and practices during FA counsel, and 37 variable tools. Eight-seven percent of primary care physicians counseled a patient with FA within the last 12 months. Most FA patients were children and infants. Approximately 2 out of 10 primary physicians counseled > 1 FA case/week. Prevalence of clinical presentation was: angioedema (23%), many skin hives (21%), few skin hives (19%), and mouth itch (9.4%). Prevalence of allergens was; peanuts (46%), shellfish (37%), eggs (36%), and tree nuts (36%), respectively. The mean of primary care physicians’ correct answers about FA was 58% and only 26% of primary care physicians acquired a sufficient amount of knowledge about FA, scoring above 67%. Their Knowledge scores about FA: clinical presentation 7 ± 1.6, diagnostic tests 2 ± 1, treatment 2.6 ± 1, and prevention 3 ± 1. In practice, correct treatment was offered by 30% of physicians, and 55% made the right referrals 86% are longing for training about FA. FA is a common counsel in primary care clinics. The most common FA presentation is a severe allergic reaction in the pediatric population. The current primary care physicians have insufficient knowledge about counseling FA and long for further training. Collectively, protocols and training for FA counseling should be launched in primary care.
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spelling pubmed-106596962023-11-17 The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study Al Hasan, Dalal Al Hasan, Sara Medicine (Baltimore) 4400 Food allergy (FA) is an increasing global public health concern. Little is known about FA counsel in primary care clinics. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of FA in primary care clinics. It also aims to report the national primary care physicians’ current knowledge and practices. An electronic cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to primary care physicians working at the Ministry of Health primary care clinics, across Kuwait’s’ 6 health districts, between May and June 2023. The questionnaire was made of 3 sections: participants’ demographic, FA counsel characteristics, participants’ knowledge and practices during FA counsel, and 37 variable tools. Eight-seven percent of primary care physicians counseled a patient with FA within the last 12 months. Most FA patients were children and infants. Approximately 2 out of 10 primary physicians counseled > 1 FA case/week. Prevalence of clinical presentation was: angioedema (23%), many skin hives (21%), few skin hives (19%), and mouth itch (9.4%). Prevalence of allergens was; peanuts (46%), shellfish (37%), eggs (36%), and tree nuts (36%), respectively. The mean of primary care physicians’ correct answers about FA was 58% and only 26% of primary care physicians acquired a sufficient amount of knowledge about FA, scoring above 67%. Their Knowledge scores about FA: clinical presentation 7 ± 1.6, diagnostic tests 2 ± 1, treatment 2.6 ± 1, and prevention 3 ± 1. In practice, correct treatment was offered by 30% of physicians, and 55% made the right referrals 86% are longing for training about FA. FA is a common counsel in primary care clinics. The most common FA presentation is a severe allergic reaction in the pediatric population. The current primary care physicians have insufficient knowledge about counseling FA and long for further training. Collectively, protocols and training for FA counseling should be launched in primary care. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2023-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10659696/ /pubmed/37986319 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000035641 Text en Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle 4400
Al Hasan, Dalal
Al Hasan, Sara
The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title_full The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title_short The epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: A cross-sectional study
title_sort epidemiology of food allergy in primary care clinic: a cross-sectional study
topic 4400
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10659696/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37986319
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000035641
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