Development and validation of educational materials for food allergy.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a food allergy educational program. STUDY DESIGN: Materials developed through focus groups and parental and expert review were submitted to 60 parents of newly referred children with a prior food allergy diagnosis and an epinephrine autoinjector. The main outcome was correct demonstration of an autoinjector. RESULTS: The correct number of autoinjector activation steps increased from 3.4 to 5.95 (of 6) after training (P < .001) and was 5.47 at 1 year (P < .05). The mean score for comfort with using the autoinjector (7-point Likert scale) before the curriculum was 4.63 (somewhat comfortable) and increased to 6.23 after the intervention (P < .05) and remained elevated at 1 year (6.03). Knowledge tests (maximum 15) increased from a mean score of 9.2 to 12.4 (P < .001) at the initial visit and remained at 12.7 at 1 year. The annualized rate of allergic reactions fell from 1.77 (historical) the year prior, to 0.42 (P < .001) after the program. On a 7-point Likert scale, all satisfaction categories remained above a favorable mean score of 6: straight-forward, organized, interesting, relevant, and recommend to others. CONCLUSIONS: This food allergy educational curriculum for parents, now available online at no cost, showed high levels of satisfaction and efficacy.

Food allergy educational needs of pediatric dietitians: a survey by the Consortium of Food Allergy Research.

OBJECTIVE: To determine pediatric dietitians' self-reported proficiency, educational needs, and preferences regarding food allergy (FA) management. DESIGN AND SETTING: An Internet-based, anonymous survey was distributed to the Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group (PNPG) of the American Dietetic Association. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents (n = 311) were registered dietitians and members of the PNPG. ANALYSIS: Results are presented using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests were applied for subgroup analyses. Percentage responses were calculated per question based on the number of respondents answering the question. RESULTS: On a 4-point scale of proficiency ("high," "moderate," "low," and "none"), respondents primarily rated themselves "moderate" for educating families, creating diets, and evaluating safe food items, and "low" for creating diagnostic food challenges. Education was primarily self-taught (75%). Preferences for future resources included handbooks (77%) and Web-based instructional programs (53%). On a 4-point scale ("very" to "not at all" needed) among practices that included >10% patients with FA, ratings of "very" were defined as need resources to update FA knowledge (87%) and need for a FA "tool kit" (84%). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Pediatric dietitians manage FA for a substantial patient base although their self-reported proficiency is overall only moderate. Dietitians would prefer and likely benefit from Internet-accessible management handbooks and patient handouts.