Abstract

Objective: Parents of children with food allergy (FA) have to feed their children safely while they are trying to prevent exposure to the offending food. In this study we aimed to identify their problems in order to help developing measures for improving quality of life of parents of children with FA.

Material and Methods: A prospective multicenter study was carried out in Turkey between May 2015 and January 2016. Study participants included parents of children who had anaphylaxis due to FA. A face to face questionnaire was used.

Results:

Parents of 70 patients were included of which, 62.9% were male, and median age was 48.5 months. Fifty percent had problems about family life, 51.4% had problems about outside activities. While 74% reported they helped each other, 22% claimed they had problems with their spouse because of FA. Of the parents, 80% were anxious and 75.7% reported they overprotect their children; 52.9% had problems about school life and 12.9% reported that school did not want to register their children. Of parents, 54.3% had problems with friend relations, 10% of parents reported that their children were alienated by their friends. Seventy percent know how to use adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) but 40% were afraid to use. Occupied mothers, mothers with lower education and parents of children with cow’s milk allergy were more often affected (p<0.05).












Conclusion: Health care workers must be aware of the problems of parents and be prepared to help them. Parents must be informed about AAI use in every visit.

Keywords: Anaphylaxis, Food allergy

References

  1. 1. Gupta RS, Springston EE, Warrier MR, Smith B, Kumar R,
  2. Pongracic J, et al. The prevalence, severity, and distribution of
  3. childhood FA in the United States. Pediatrics 2011; 128: 9-17.
  4. 2. Cummings AJ, Knibb RC, King RM, Lucas JS. The psychosocial
  5. impact of FA and food hypersensitivity in children, adolescents and
  6. their families: a review. Allergy 2010; 65: 933-45.
  7. 3. Sicherer SH, Sampson HA. FA: A review and update on
  8. epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and
  9. management. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2018; 141: 41-58.
  10. 4. Uguz A, Lack G, Pumphrey R, Ewan P, Warner J, Dick J, et al.
  11. Allergic reactions in the community: a questionnaire survey of
  12. members of the anaphylaxis campaign. Clin Exp Allergy 2005; 35:
  13. 746-50.
  14. 5. Cohen BL, Noone S, Muñoz-Furlong A, Sicherer SH. Development
  15. of a questionnaire to measure quality of life in families with a child
  16. with FA. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004; 114: 1159-63.
  17. 6. Broome-Stone SB. The psychosocial impact of life-threatening
  18. childhood food allergies. Pediatr Nurs 2012; 38: 327-30.
  19. 7. Primeau MN, Kagan R, Joseph L, Lim H, Dufresne C, Duffy C, et al.
  20. The psychological burden of peanut allergy as perceived by adults
  21. with peanut allergy and the parents of peanut-allergic children. Clin
  22. Exp Allergy 2000; 30: 1135-43.
  23. 8. Valentine AZ, Knibb RC. Exploring quality of life in families of
  24. children living with and without a severe FA. Appetite. 2011; 57:
  25. 467-74.
  26. 9. Bollinger ME, Dahlquist LM, Mudd K, Sonntag C, Dillinger L,
  27. McKenna K. The impact of FA on the daily activities of children
  28. and their families. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2006; 96: 415-21.
  29. 10. Springston EE, Smith B, Shulruff J, Pongracic J, Holl J, Gupta
  30. RS. Variations in quality of life among caregivers of food allergic
  31. children. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010; 105: 287-294.
  32. 11. Case-Smith J. Parenting a child with a chronic medical condition.
  33. Am J Occup Ther. 2004; 58: 551-60.
  34. 12. Gillespie CA, Woodgate RL, Chalmers KI, Watson WT. “Living with
  35. risk”: mothering a child with food-induced anaphylaxis. J Pediatr
  36. Nurs 2007; 22: 30-42.
  37. 13. Ostblom E, Egmar AC, Gardulf A, Lilja G, Wickman M. The impact
  38. of food hypersensitivity reported in 9-year-old children by their
  39. parents on health-related quality of life. Allergy 2008; 63: 211-8.
  40. 14. King RM, Knibb RC, Hourihane JO. Impact of peanut allergy on
  41. quality of life, stress and anxiety in the family. Allergy 2009; 64:
  42. 461-8.
  43. 15. Knibb RC, Semper H. Impact of suspected FA on emotional
  44. distress and family life of parents prior to allergy diagnosis. Pediatr
  45. Allergy Immunol 2013; 24: 798-803.
  46. 16. Akeson N, Worth A, Sheikh A. The psychosocial impact of
  47. anaphylaxis on young people and their parents. Clin Exp Allergy
  48. 2007; 37:1213-20.
  49. 17. Avery NJ, King RM, Knight S, Hourihane JO. Assessment of quality
  50. of life in children with peanut allergy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol
  51. 2003;14: 378-82.
  52. 18. Fedele DA, McQuaid EL, Faino A, Strand M, Cohen S, Robinson
  53. J, et al. Patterns of adaptation to children’s food allergies. Allergy
  54. 2016; 71: 505-13.
  55. 19. Calsbeek H, Rijken M, Bekkers MJ, Dekker J, van Berge
  56. Henegouwen GP. School and leisure activities in adolescents and
  57. young adults with chronic digestive disorders: impact of burden of
  58. disease. Int J Behav Med 2006;13:121-30.
  59. 20. Sampson MA, Muñoz-Furlong A, Sicherer SH. Risk-taking and
  60. coping strategies of adolescents and young adults with FA. J
  61. Allergy Clin Immunol 2006;117:1440-5.
  62. 21. Muñoz-Furlong A. FA in schools: concerns for allergists,
  63. pediatricians, parents, and school staff. Ann Allergy Asthma
  64. Immunol 2004; 93: 47-50.
  65. 22. Marklund B, Ahlstedt S, Nordström G. Food hypersensitivity and
  66. quality of life. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2007; 7: 279-87.
  67. 23. Dahlquist LM, Power TG, Hahn AL, Hoehn JL, Thompson CC,
  68. Herbert LJ, et al. Parenting and independent problem-solving in
  69. preschool children with FA. J Pediatr Psychol 2015; 40: 96-108.
  70. 24. Herber LJ, Dahlquist LM. Perceived history of anaphylaxis and
  71. parental overprotection, autonomy, anxiety, and depression in food
  72. allergic young adults. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 2008; 15: 261-
  73. 9.
  74. 25. Mandell D, Curtis R, Gold M, Hardie S. Anaphylaxis: how do you
  75. live with it? Health Soc Work 2005; 30: 325-35.
  76. 26. Watura JC. Nut allergy in schoolchildren: a survey of schools in the
  77. Severn NHS Trust. Arch Dis Child 2002; 86: 240-4.
  78. 27. Pumphrey RS. Lessons for management of anaphylaxis from a
  79. study of fatal reactions. Clin Exp Allergy 2000; 30: 1144-50.
  80. 28. Leynaert B, Soussan D. Monitoring the quality-of-life in allergic
  81. disorders. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2003; 3: 177-83.
  82. 29. Gånemo A, Svensson A, Lindberg M, Wahlgren CF. Quality of life
  83. in Swedish children with eczema. Acta Derm Venereol 2007; 87:
  84. 345-9.
  85. 30. Vargas PA, Sicherer SH, Christie L, Keaveny M, Noone S, Watkins
  86. D, et al. Developing a FA curriculum for parents. Pediatr Allergy
  87. Immunol 2011; 22: 575-82.

Copyright and license

How to cite

1.
Güvenir H. Challenges Parents Face While Trying to Coping with Food Allergic Children Who Had Experienced Anaphylaxis. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2020 May 29 [cited 2025 May 24];14(3):211-9. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/687