College students poorly compliant at managing food allergy

Several food allergy awareness and self-management behaviors were found to be poor in college students, according to findings recently presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

Marilyn R. Karam, MD, University of Michigan, and colleagues analyzed data from an online survey taken by undergraduate students at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University.

They found that of 1,772 participants, 748 (43.2%) reported having a food allergy. Of those, 394 (59.2%) reported symptoms that were consistent with anaphylaxis criteria from the National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Results showed that among students with a food allergy, 81% reported that a close contact was aware of the allergy, 40.1% reported managing emergency medication including self-injectable epinephrine, and 48.8% reported that they always avoided their allergen.

Among students who did not prepare their own food, 32.2% reported available allergen-free alternatives, 31.2% reported that preparers knew of their food allergy and 21.5% reported that dining hall foods were always labeled.

"Reported [food allergy] rates, levels of campus awareness, and food labeling vary significantly among students at 3 Universities," Karam and colleagues concluded. "However, poor compliance rates with [self-injectable epinephrine] carriage, food preparer awareness and allergen avoidance are similar." – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes

Disclosures: Healio Internal Medicine could not confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.

Reference:

Karam MR, et al. Paper 302. Presented at: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting; March 4-7, 2016; Los Angeles.