Awareness of food allergies: a survey of pediatricians in Kuwait

BACKGROUND Early diagnosis of food allergies (FA) is important for a favorable prognosis. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness of FA among pediatricians in Kuwait. METHOD A 43-item self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed to pediatricians working at 4 government hospitals in Kuwait. RESULTS A total of 140 pediatricians completed the questionnaire, with a participation rate of 51.1% (81 males and 59 females). The mean age of participants was 40.81 years, and the mean number of years working in pediatrics was 13.94 years. The mean overall knowledge score was 22.2. The pediatricians' overall knowledge scores were found to be significantly associated with their age (older pediatricians had higher overall scores) and years of experience as a pediatrician but were independent from hospital site, gender, or rank. A multiple linear regression revealed pediatrician age and gender were the only variables that were significantly associated with the overall knowledge score. Only 16.4% of the participants answered at least 2/3 of the survey questions correctly. The questions that were correctly answered by ≤ 2/3 of the participants constituted 80% of clinical presentation questions, 66.6% of diagnostics questions, 77.7% of treatment questions, and 42.8% of prevention questions. Interestingly, among 68 pediatricians (48.5%) who determined that they felt comfortable evaluating and treating patients with FA, only 12 (17.6%) passed the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS This survey demonstrates that there is a noteworthy deficiency of pediatricians' awareness about FA. The implementation of strategies to improve pediatricians' awareness is critical to diagnose food allergy patients early and improve their health and outcomes.