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. 2012 Apr;160(4):651-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2011.09.056. Epub 2011 Nov 13.

Development and validation of educational materials for food allergy

Scott H Sicherer  1 , Perla A Vargas, Marion E Groetch, Lynn Christie, Suzanne K Carlisle, Sally Noone, Stacie M Jones
Affiliations

Development and validation of educational materials for food allergy

Scott H Sicherer et al. J Pediatr. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Auto-injector competency scores. Overall score was statistically significantly increased from baseline and maintained at 12 months.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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