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JACI Highlights - July 2005
Parental Use of EpiPen® for Children with Food Allergies
EpiPen® is a potentially life-saving treatment that delivers epinephrine (adrenaline) for a life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Food allergy is the most common cause of anaphylaxis in children. Prior studies have reported that EpiPen® is underutilized in food-allergic children experiencing anaphylaxis and attributed this to lack of parental knowledge. When interviewed, these parents of food-allergic children did not remember the steps required to administer the medicine effectively. Furthermore, quality of life has been shown to be diminished in these families, implying a psychological burden of disease. In the July 2005 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Kim et al explore the factors that contribute to parental comfort with EpiPen® administration. They found that parents who had previously administered EpiPen® or had been trained to use EpiPen® (by a physician or nurse, for example) were more likely to be comfortable with future use. The most significant factor, however, was parental empowerment, a psychological resource that was also assessed in this study. Surprisingly, neither a history of anaphylaxis in the child nor parental knowledge correlated with an increased level of comfort with administration. The authors assert that EpiPen® training can improve parental comfort with administration. Moreover, this is the first study that investigates the psychological factors that influence EpiPen® administration by parents to their food-allergic children.
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