Background

Food allergy (FA) is a chronic condition of emerging global concern. Surveys have been conducted in numerous countries to assess physician knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) pertaining to FA and anaphylaxis, and substantial deficits in their KAP were identified.

Objective

To assess the KAP of medical clinicians in Hyderabad, India, with respect to FA and anaphylaxis.

Methods

A regionally representative sample of 570 physicians including 113 general practitioners, 123 pediatricians, 110 pulmonologists, 113 dermatologists, and 111 gastroenterologists were recruited from all major institutions in Hyderabad, India. A validated questionnaire was used to assess their KAP.

Results

Overall, 90% of questions were correctly answered and differences emerged with respect to specific items, namely the following: (1) the lateral thigh being the preferred location for epinephrine administration (P = .001); (2) a positive skin prick test or radioallergosorbent test is sufficient for FA diagnosis (P = .04); and (3) the appropriate epinephrine dose for a 27-kg child (P = .006). Approximately 95% of the participants in each group were confident in their ability to care for patients with FA, yet 91% desired additional periodic FA training sessions.

Conclusion

Survey findings suggest that although FA knowledge among South Indian clinicians seems high across all major specialties who care for patients with FA, there are differences in the level of knowledge among them, which in turn reflects the differences in attitude and approach toward their patients. These FA care providers still desire to further participate in continuing medical education efforts in the field of food allergy. Efforts to provide periodic training and education for all FA clinical care providers remain vital in South India.

中文翻译：

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印度海得拉巴的临床医生关于食物过敏和过敏反应的知识，态度和做法。

背景

食物过敏（FA）是引起全球关注的慢性病。在许多国家进行了调查，以评估与FA和过敏反应有关的医师知识，态度和做法（KAP），并确定了其KAP的实质性缺陷。

目的

评估印度海得拉巴的临床医生关于FA和过敏反应的KAP。

方法

从印度海德拉巴的所有主要机构招募了具有地区代表性的570名医师，包括113名全科医生，123名儿科医生，110名肺病学家，113名皮肤病学家和111名肠胃病学家。经过验证的问卷用于评估其KAP。

结果

总体而言，正确回答了90％的问题，并且在具体项目上出现了以下差异：（1）大腿外侧是肾上腺素给药的首选部位（P  = .001）；（2）阳性的皮肤点刺试验或放射变态反应吸附试验足以诊断FA（P  = .04）；（3）27公斤儿童的适当肾上腺素剂量（P  = .006）。每组中大约95％的参与者对他们护理FA患者的能力充满信心，而91％的参与者希望进行额外的定期FA培训。

结论

调查结果表明，尽管南印度临床医生在护理FA患者的所有主要专业中对FA的了解程度都很高，但他们之间的知识水平却存在差异，这反过来反映了他们对待患者的态度和方法的差异。这些FA护理提供者仍然希望进一步参与食物过敏领域的持续医学教育工作。在南印度，为所有FA临床护理提供者提供定期培训和教育的努力仍然至关重要。