TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges experienced with early introduction and sustained consumption of allergenic foods in the Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) study
T2 - A qualitative analysis
AU - Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) study team
AU - Voorheis, Paula
AU - Bell, Sadie
AU - Cornelsen, Laura
AU - Quaife, Matthew
AU - Logan, Kirsty
AU - Marrs, Tom
AU - Radulovic, Suzana
AU - Craven, Joanna
AU - Flohr, Carsten
AU - Lack, Gideon
AU - Perkin, Michael R.
AU - Young, Louise
AU - Offord, Victoria
AU - DeSousa, Mary
AU - Cullen, Jason
AU - Taylor, Katherine
AU - Tseng, Anna
AU - Raji, Bunmi
AU - Byrom, Sarah
AU - Regis, Gillian
AU - Bigwood, Charlie
AU - Stedman, Charlotte
AU - Tonner, Sharon
AU - Banks, Emily
AU - Kahnum, Yasmin
AU - Babic, Rachel
AU - Stockwell, Ben
AU - Thompson, Erin
AU - Wheatley, Lorna
AU - Patkunam, Devi
AU - Richards, Kerry
AU - Pietraszewicz, Ewa
AU - Stephens, Alick
AU - Sudra, Asha
AU - Turcanu, Victor
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Background: The early introduction group participants of the Enquiring About Tolerance study were asked to undertake a proscriptive regimen of early introduction and sustained consumption of 6 allergenic foods. It was envisaged that this might be challenging, and early introduction group families were presented with an open-text question to express any problems they were experiencing with the regimen in recurring online questionnaires. Objective: We sought to analyze these open-text questionnaire responses with the aim of identifying challenges associated with the introduction and regular consumption of allergenic foods. Methods: Three combinations of interim questionnaire responses were selected for analysis, representing the early period (4, 5, and 6 months), middle period (8 and 12 months), and late period (24 and 36 months) of participation in the Enquiring About Tolerance study. Responses were assigned a code to describe their content and subsequently grouped into themes to portray key messages. A thematic content analysis allowed for conversion of qualitative codes into quantitative summaries. Results: Three main challenges to allergenic food consumption were identified. First, some children refused the allergenic food, causing a sense of defeat among caregivers. Second, caregivers were concerned that allergenic foods might be causing a reaction, triggering a need for reassurance. Third, practical problems associated with the regimen compromised caregivers' capacity to persist. Conclusion: Understanding the challenges experienced with allergenic food introduction and sustained consumption is the necessary precursor to developing specific communication and support strategies that could be used by caregivers, practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders to address these problems.
AB - Background: The early introduction group participants of the Enquiring About Tolerance study were asked to undertake a proscriptive regimen of early introduction and sustained consumption of 6 allergenic foods. It was envisaged that this might be challenging, and early introduction group families were presented with an open-text question to express any problems they were experiencing with the regimen in recurring online questionnaires. Objective: We sought to analyze these open-text questionnaire responses with the aim of identifying challenges associated with the introduction and regular consumption of allergenic foods. Methods: Three combinations of interim questionnaire responses were selected for analysis, representing the early period (4, 5, and 6 months), middle period (8 and 12 months), and late period (24 and 36 months) of participation in the Enquiring About Tolerance study. Responses were assigned a code to describe their content and subsequently grouped into themes to portray key messages. A thematic content analysis allowed for conversion of qualitative codes into quantitative summaries. Results: Three main challenges to allergenic food consumption were identified. First, some children refused the allergenic food, causing a sense of defeat among caregivers. Second, caregivers were concerned that allergenic foods might be causing a reaction, triggering a need for reassurance. Third, practical problems associated with the regimen compromised caregivers' capacity to persist. Conclusion: Understanding the challenges experienced with allergenic food introduction and sustained consumption is the necessary precursor to developing specific communication and support strategies that could be used by caregivers, practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders to address these problems.
KW - adherence
KW - allergens
KW - breastfeeding
KW - diet
KW - Food allergy
KW - infancy
KW - qualitative
KW - randomized controlled trial
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075493698&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaci.2019.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jaci.2019.09.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075493698
SN - 0091-6749
VL - 144
SP - 1615
EP - 1623
JO - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
JF - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
IS - 6
ER -