Teen-Parent Views of Food Allergy Differ
Communication Gap Could Prove Dangerous If Allergy Is Severe
March 12, 2003 (Denver) -- Teens with food allergies may be reluctant to use their allergy medications and are strongly influenced by social pressures, which could put them at increased risk of a fatal allergic reaction, a new study suggests.
The study also suggests that a "communication gap" may exist between teens and their parents, since parents may not fully appreciate what their teens are going through, according to study leader Sally A. Noone, RN, MSN, with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
The researchers presented their findings at the 60th Anniversary Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI).
Noone and colleagues had 37 teens with severe food allergies and their parents fill out a questionnaire about their own or their teen's allergies. All of the teens had been prescribed an emergency epinephrine kit, which can be lifesaving for people with severe allergies if a severe reaction takes place.
Many of the responses to the survey questions were different between the teen and the parent, suggesting that communication may be a problem between the two groups.
For example, about half of the parents underestimated that their children would self-administer epinephrine, whereas about 73% of the teens said they would, but only half of the teen-parent pairs matched in their responses.
Perhaps more worrisome, Noone tells WebMD, is that when these teens were surveyed in the past, very often their epinephrine kit was "with their mother," although she said that teens are becoming more aware of the need to carry this with them.
The survey also found that about half of the teens reported being harassed about their allergies, and half reported having to curtail their social activities. About the same number of parents said that this was true for their teen, although once again, many of the parent-teen responses did not match up, suggesting a lack of communication between the parents and the teens.
When asked about the hardest/worst part of their disease, almost all the teens mentioned problems with social isolation, such as being singled out, having a special diet, and being excluded from activities.