Design of the Intervention to Reduce Early Peanut Allergy in Children (iREACH): A practice-based clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Introducing peanut products early can prevent peanut allergy (PA). The "Addendum guidelines for the prevention of PA in the United States" (PPA guidelines) recommend early introduction of peanut products to low and moderate risk infants and evaluation prior to starting peanut products for infants at high risk for PA (those with severe eczema and/or egg allergy). Rapid adoption of guidelines could aid in lowering the prevalence of PA. The Intervention to Reduce Early (Peanut) Allergy in Children (iREACH) trial was designed to promote PPA guideline adherence by pediatric clinicians. METHODS: A two-arm, cluster-randomized, controlled clinical trial was designed to measure the effectiveness of an intervention that included clinician education and accompanying clinical decision support tools integrated in electronic health records (EHR) versus standard care. Randomization was at the practice level (n = 30). Primary aims evaluated over an 18-month trial period assess adherence to the PPA guidelines using EHR documentation at 4- and 6-month well-child care visits aided by natural language processing. A secondary aim will evaluate the effectiveness in decreasing the incidence of PA by age 2.5 years using EHR documentation and caregiver surveys. The unit of observation for evaluations are individual children with clustering at the practice level. CONCLUSION: Application of this intervention has the potential to inform the development of strategies to speed implementation of PPA guidelines.

Potential parental determinants of the pace of evidence-based practice change in children's mental health care.

BACKGROUND: Strength of evidence is key to advancing children's mental health care but may be inadequate for driving practice change. The Designing for Accelerated Translation (DART) framework proposes a multifaceted approach: pace of implementation as a function of evidence of effectiveness, demand for the intervention, sum of risks, and costs. To inform empirical applications of DART, we solicited caregiver preferences on key elements. METHOD: In March-April 2022, we fielded a population-representative online survey in Illinois households (caregivers N = 1,326) with ≥1 child <8 years old. Six hypothetical scenarios based on the DART framework were used to elucidate caregivers' preferences on a 0-10 scale (0 = never; 10 = as soon as possible) for pace of implementation of a family-based program to address mental health concerns. RESULTS: Caregivers' pace preference scores varied significantly for each scenario. The highest mean score (7.28, 95% confidence interval [95% CI: 7.06, 7.50]) was for a scenario in which the child's provider thinks the program would be helpful (effectiveness) and the caregiver believes the program is needed (demand). In contrast, the lowest mean score (5.13, 95% CI [4.91, 5.36]) was for a scenario in which online information implies the program would be helpful (effectiveness) and the parent is concerned about the program's financial costs (cost). Caregivers' pace preference scores did not vary consistently by sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSION: In this empirical exploration of the DART framework, factors such as demand, cost, and risk, in combination with evidence of effectiveness, may influence caregivers' preferred pace of implementation for children's mental health interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Incident Kaposi sarcoma during the expansion of antiretroviral therapy eligibility in Nigeria: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: The expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility could lead to earlier initiation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment and consequently reduce the risk of HIV-associated Kaposi Sarcoma (KS). We investigated the impact of changes in the Nigerian HIV treatment guidelines on KS incidence among adults enrolled in HIV care in Nigeria. METHODS: We analyzed data of adults who enrolled for HIV care from January 2006 to December 2016 at one of Nigeria's largest HIV treatment centers. Based on changes in HIV treatment guidelines, we classified 2006-2009 as the pre-expansion period and 2010-2016 as the post-expansion period. We used Kaplan Meier curves to compare the incidence of KS in the pre-expansion to the post-expansion period. We used Cox regression models to assess the hazard for incident KS between the two periods after adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Among 14,479 patients with HIV, the overall KS incidence was 2.35; 95% CI 2.01-2.74/1,000 person-years. The incidence of KS decreased from 2.53 to 1.58 per 1,000 person-years from 2006 to 2009 to 2010-2016. In models adjusting for age, sex, CD4-T cell count, and ART use, the risk for KS remained lower in 2010-2016 compared to 2006-2009. In analyses restricted to time on ART, there was no significant difference in KS incidence between HIV patients who enrolled in 2006-2009 and 2010-2016 after adjusting for age, sex, and CD4 T-cell count. CONCLUSION: The expansion of ART eligibility was associated with a reduced incidence of HIV-associated KS among adults initiating HIV care in Jos, Nigeria. The reduction was likely driven by earlier enrollment for HIV care and ART initiation.

Gut microbiome is associated with asthma and race in children with food allergy.

BACKGROUND: The composition of the gut microbiome has been associated with development of atopic conditions such as food allergy (FA) and asthma. African American or Black children with FA have higher rate of asthma compared to their White counterparts. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether the diversity and relative abundance (RA) of gut microbiota is different between children with FA from different racial backgrounds living in the same cities. Furthermore, we aimed to understand whether the difference in the gut microbiota is associated with asthma in children with FA. METHODS: We analyzed and compared the stool microbiome of a cohort of Black and White children with FA by shotgun genomic sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 152 children with IgE-mediated FA enrolled onto FORWARD (Food Allergy Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences); 30 Black and 122 White children were included. The RA of several bacteria was associated with race and asthma. Most notably the RA of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Chlamydia thrachomatis, Parabacteroides goldsteinii, and Bacteroides eggerthii were significantly higher, while the RA of Bifidobacterium sp CAG:754, Parabacterium johnsonii, Bacteroides intestinalis, and Bifidobacterium breve were significantly lower in stool samples of Black children compared to White children. Asthma was associated with lower RA of B breve, Bifidobacterium catenulatum, Prevotella copri, Veilloella sp CAG:933, and Bacteroides plebius, and higher RA of 3 Bacteroides species. CONCLUSIONS: The observed variations in the gut microbiota of Black and White children such as differences in the Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium species along with their association to history of asthma in our cohort is indicative of their potential role in the higher rate of asthma observed among Black children with FA.

Early Peanut Introduction Awareness, Beliefs, and Practices Among Parents and Caregivers.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The 2017 Prevention of Peanut Allergy Guidelines recommend incorporating peanut protein into infants' diets to prevent peanut allergy. The goal of this study was to explore US caregivers' awareness, beliefs, practices, and outcomes around peanut introduction. METHODS: A parent-report survey was administered between January and February 2021 to a population-based sample of 3062 US parents/caregivers of a child between age 7 months and 3.5 years. The survey evaluated awareness, beliefs, feeding practices, primary care provider (PCP) interactions, and food reactions. RESULTS: Overall, 13.3% of parents/caregivers reported Prevention of Peanut Allergy Guidelines awareness. Caregivers who reported being white, 30 to 44 years of age, educated, high income, or cared for a child with food allergy or eczema were more likely to be guideline-aware (P < .001). Among US parents/caregivers, 47.7% believed that feeding peanuts early prevented peanut allergy; 17.2% first offered peanut-containing foods before age 7 months and 41.8% did so between ages 7 and 12 months. Peanut introduction occurred earlier among guideline-aware parents/caregivers: 31% offered it before 7 months (P < .001). Overall, 57.8% of parents/caregivers reported discussing peanut introduction with their PCP. PCP counseling was the most common facilitator for peanut introduction before 7 months (odds ratio 16.26 [9.49-27.85]), whereas fear of reactions was the most common reason for delaying peanut introduction beyond 7 months (32.5%). Actual reactions during peanut introduction were reported by 1.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Early peanut feeding practices are gaining traction among US parents/caregivers; however, disparities exist. Future efforts to increase guideline adherence need to address disparities, provide support for medical providers, and educate about the true incidence of reactions.

Evaluation of Training to Increase Knowledge of the Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the US.

This survey study examines changes in pediatric clinicians' knowledge of eczema identification and the 2017 Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy after an educational intervention.

Accelerating Food Allergy Research: Need for a Data Commons.

Food allergy is a significant health problem affecting approximately 8% of children and 11% of adults in the United States. It exhibits all the characteristics of a "complex" genetic trait; therefore, it is necessary to look at very large numbers of patients, far more than exist at any single organization, to eliminate gaps in the current understanding of this complex chronic disorder. Advances may be achieved by bringing together food allergy data from large numbers of patients into a Data Commons, a secure and efficient platform for researchers, comprising standardized data, available in a common interface for download and/or analysis, in accordance with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. Prior data commons initiatives indicate that research community consensus and support, formal food allergy ontology, data standards, an accepted platform and data management tools, an agreed upon infrastructure, and trusted governance are the foundation of any successful data commons. In this article, we will present the justification for the creation of a food allergy data commons and describe the core principles that can make it successful and sustainable.

Assessing Disparities in the Prevalence of Atopic Comorbidities Among Food-Allergic Children.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that Black children with food allergy (FA) have higher risk of atopic comorbidities than White children. OBJECTIVE: Our study sought to understand if disparities in the prevalence of atopic comorbidities among children with FA are driven by individual and community-level socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: We analyzed data from a prospective, multicenter cohort investigating the natural history of pediatric atopy: the Food Allergy Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences (FORWARD) study. A validated, multicomponent area deprivation index (ADI) percentile score was tabulated by the census block group for each subject's home address. The association of ADI with atopic comorbidities in FA was assessed via multivariable regression analysis. RESULTS: Of the 700 children in this study, the mean ADI was 37.7 (95% confidence interval: 35.6-39.7). The mean ADI was higher in children with asthma (43.3) compared with those without asthma (31.8), which remained significant after adjusting for race (P < .0001). Children with allergic rhinitis (AR) had a higher mean ADI (39.1) compared with those without (33.4) (P = .008). ADI was associated with secondhand smoking, parents' education, and household income. Black children had a higher risk for asthma after adjusting for ADI and SES-related factors. CONCLUSION: The independent association of ADI with asthma and AR, regardless of race, suggests a role of neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation in the development of these conditions among children with FA. Black children with FA remained at higher risk for asthma after adjusting for SES-related variables, which can indicate an independent risk for asthma in these children.

Achieving Racial Representation in Food Allergy Research: A Modified Delphi Study.

BACKGROUND: The overrepresentation of White participants in food allergy research contributes to the development of research questions and interventions not driven by those disproportionately affected by the condition. This ultimately limits the generalizability of research findings and affects the development of knowledge about food allergy and food allergy management. OBJECTIVE: To develop recommendations to combat inequitable research paradigms and increase participation of racially underrepresented populations in food allergy research. METHODS: This study used a modified consensus development method, known as a Delphi method, to assemble the expertise of food allergy clinicians, advocacy leaders, community-engaged researchers, and patients. RESULTS: Findings resulted in 18 recommendations within four domains: community partnership, intentional engagement and messaging, recruitment activities, and dissemination. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study provide food allergy researchers with specific recommendations for examining their efforts more critically toward recruiting and engaging with racially underrepresented populations, effectively transitioning from a research-on to a research-with relationship with individuals and families living with food allergy.

Socioeconomic determinants of food allergy burden: A clinical introduction.

OBJECTIVE: This review characterizes what is currently known about how prevalence, severity, distribution, and management of food allergy (FA) differ across socioeconomic strata and provides guidance for practicing clinicians about how to improve equity in research participation, health care delivery, and patient outcomes through a deeper understanding of the socioeconomic determinants of FA. DATA SOURCES: Epidemiologic and biomedical literature published before April 2022. RESULTS: Socioeconomic status (SES) is a complex concept that encompasses not only economic resources (eg, income, wealth) but also a person's social, economic, and political power and standing, each of which can affect health. However, in many studies of individuals and families with FA, assessment of SES has been limited and often a respondent's membership within a racial and ethnic group is used as a proxy for low SES. As a whole, findings from US population-based studies indicate a consistent trend: those who self-identify as non-Hispanic Black, and to a lesser extent other subpopulations who identify as being of non-White race and ethnicity, experience a greater burden of food-allergic sensitization and disease including higher rates of emergency health care utilization and food-induced anaphylactic fatality as compared with those identifying as non-Hispanic White. CONCLUSION: Reports of FA management and outcomes highlight inequities among specific low SES populations in the United States. Clinicians can and should act to reduce inequities by engaging more diverse populations in clinical research, equitably implementing FA risk screening and prevention, thoughtfully using emerging technologies to ameliorate disparities based on SES in health care delivery and outcomes, and advocating for social change.

Analyses of Kaposi Sarcoma trends among adults establishing initial outpatient HIV care in Nigeria: 2006-2017.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-associated Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) in the pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) population remains high in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined trends of KS prevalence in adults, establishing initial outpatient HIV care from 2006 to 2017 in Nigeria. METHODS: We analyzed data of 16,431 adults (age ≥ 18 years) enrolled for HIV care from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2017, in a large clinic in Jos, Nigeria. KS at enrollment was defined as KS recorded in the electronic health record within 30 days of clinic enrollment. Time trends were compared among four periods: 2006-2008, 2009-2011, 2012-2014, and 2015-2017 using logistic regression models. Annual trends were analyzed using join point regression and restricted splines. RESULTS: The study population had a mean age 35.1 (standard deviation, SD 9.5) years, and were 65.7% female (n = 10,788). The mean CD4 cell count was 220 (95% CI 117-223). The overall KS prevalence at entry was 0.59% (95% CI 0.48-0.72). Compared to 2006-2008, KS prevalence was significantly higher in 2009-2011 (adjusted odds ratio 5.07 (95% CI 3.12-8.24), p < 0.001), but remained unchanged in subsequent periods. Male sex and low CD4 T-cell count independently increased odds for KS. CONCLUSIONS: Despite ART expansion, KS at enrollment showed no significant decline. The low CD4 cell count, across all periods, indicates delay in enrollment for HIV care, which increases KS risk. Interventions aimed at early HIV diagnosis and linkage to ART is critical to KS risk reduction in this population.

Development of Food Allergy Data Dictionary: Toward a Food Allergy Data Commons.

BACKGROUND: Food allergy (FA) data lacks a common base of terminology and hinders data exchange among institutions. OBJECTIVE: To examine the current FA concept coverage by clinical terminologies and to develop and evaluate a Food Allergy Data Dictionary (FADD). METHODS: Allergy/immunology templates and patient intake forms from 4 academic medical centers with expertise in FA were systematically reviewed, and in-depth discussions with a panel of FA experts were conducted to identify important FA clinical concepts and data elements. The candidate ontology was iteratively refined through a series of virtual meetings. The concepts were mapped to existing clinical terminologies manually with the ATHENA vocabulary browser. Finally, the revised dictionary document was vetted with experts across 22 academic FA centers and 3 industry partners. RESULTS: A consensus version 1.0 FADD was finalized in November 2020. The FADD v1.0 contained 936 discrete FA concepts that were grouped into 14 categories. The categories included both FA-specific concepts, such as foods triggering reactions, and general health care categories, such as medications. Although many FA concepts are included in existing clinical terminologies, some critical concepts are missing. CONCLUSIONS: The FADD provides a pragmatic tool that can enable improved structured coding of FA data for both research and clinical uses, as well as lay the foundation for the development of standardized FA structured data entry forms.

Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 and influenza vaccination in pediatric food allergy.

Background: Current COVID-19 and influenza vaccination-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors remain poorly understood among US children with food allergy-and particularly those from non-Hispanic Black, Latinx, and lower income backgrounds who bear a disproportionate burden by allergic disease. These data are especially relevant due to historical vaccine hesitancy in children with food allergy and an initial contraindication for those with severe allergic reactions to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Objective: We sought to characterize COVID-19 and influenza vaccination-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse longitudinal cohort of caregiver-child dyads with IgE-mediated food allergy. Methods: We leveraged the NIH-supported FORWARD cohort, consisting of non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic/Latinx children diagnosed with food allergy to assess COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and influenza vaccine concern and utilization through administering a one-time IRB-approved survey. Results: Non-Hispanic Black participants were less likely than Non-Hispanic White participants to be vaccinated (OR=0.25, 95%CI:0.08-0.75) or tested (OR=0.33, 95%CI:0.13-0.85) for COVID-19 and have the intention to vaccinate their children for influenza (OR=0.42; 0.18-0.98). Over one third of participants reported that they believe their child is at greater risk of complications from COVID-19 vaccination due to food allergy. There were racial/ethnic disparities in the belief that COVID vaccines contain allergenic ingredients such that more Hispanic/Latinx (37%) and Black (37%) participants than White (22%) participants reported this belief (p=.02). Conclusion: The present findings of disparities in vaccination-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors across racial/ethnic, and household income strata suggest that initial reports of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy within the population with food allergy may be further exacerbated by well-documented, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences in vaccine hesitancy, potentially leading to a greater infectious disease burden in these vulnerable populations. This highlights a need for targeted education and outreach among members of these communities who are living with food allergy.

Associations of Food Allergy-Related Dietary Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Caregivers of Black and White Children With Food Allergy.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of pediatric food allergy (FA) in the United States has disproportionately affected non-Hispanic Black youth. However, racial and other socioeconomic disparities in FA management among caregivers of children with FA remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine associations between socioeconomic, clinical, and health care factors and FA-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among caregivers of Black and White children with FA. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey analysis from the Food Allergy Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences Study. PARTICIPANTS/SETTINGS: Longitudinal cohort of caregivers of 385 Black and White children with FA ages birth to 12 years residing in Chicago, Illinois, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Washington, DC from 2017 to March 2021. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: There were 3 primary outcomes of interest: (1) FA knowledge assessed by scores from the Knowledge Survey, (2) FA-related attitudes assessed by newly developed survey, and (3) food-related behaviors assessed by the FORWARD Diet and Purchasing Habit Surveys completed 6 months postenrollment. ANALYSES: Multivariable linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall response rate to the 6-month postenrollment survey was 51.3% (385 of 751). White caregivers represented 69.4% of the participants. Black race was associated with a 1.5-point mean decrease in FA knowledge score (95% CI: -2.2 to -0.7) compared with White caregivers, and a graduate degree or bachelor's degree was associated with associated with a 1.7-point mean increase (95% CI: 0.8-2.7) and 1.1-point mean increase (95% CI: 0.2-2.0) in FA knowledge score, respectively, compared with caregivers who had less than a bachelor's degree. Multiple FAs and ever visited the emergency department for a food-related allergic reaction were also associated with higher levels of FA knowledge. Ever visited the emergency department for FA was also associated with higher odds of 2 measures of FA attitudes reflecting parental anxiety. Greater FA knowledge scores were consistently associated with lower odds of several FA-related food purchasing and eating behaviors assumed to have elevated risk of FA. Eating food prepared at school was the only FA behavior associated with race. Compared with White children, Black children were 2.5 times more likely to eat school-prepared foods (95% CI: 1.2-5.6). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study identified socioeconomic, racial, and clinical factors associated with caregivers' FA-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, but further research is warranted to better understand these relationships.