title: Caregivers of children with no food allergy--their experiences and perception of food allergy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food allergy (FA) is one of the most important health issues in schoolchildren. Although one of the most common places where pediatric anaphylaxis occurs is the home of a peer, the perception and experiences of caregivers who do not have a child with FA are unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous paper-based questionnaire was distributed to caregivers of FA children (FA caregivers) in the National Center for Child Health and Development and caregivers of non-FA children (non-FA caregivers) in public school in Tokyo. We examined the perception and experiences of FA among three groups: Group 1, non-FA caregiver who had not witnessed adverse reactions and near-miss events related to FA; Group 2, non-FA caregivers who had witnessed adverse reactions and near-miss events related to FA; and Group 3, caregivers who had a child with FA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Epinephrine auto-injector was recognized by 43.6% non-FA caregivers. Only 2.8% of non-FA caregivers had experienced a child being bullied, harassed, or refused by a school because of FA. There were more caregivers in Group 2 who thought they could take the appropriate action if they witnessed a child with adverse response to causal food than in Group 1 (p < 0.05). All groups felt anxious over adverse events related to FA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The experiences and perception of FA were lacking among non-FA caregivers. Therefore, it is also important to provide FA education for non-FA caregivers to improve the quality of life of FA children.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Department of Medical Subspecialties, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.|Department of Health and Psychosocial Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiwako
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1288-9620
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto-Hanada
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Department of Medical Subspecialties, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Futamura
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Epidemiology, St Luke's Life Science Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Department of Medical Subspecialties, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Psychosocial Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Department of Medical Subspecialties, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: anxiety; bully; caregivers; education; epinephrine auto-injector; experiences; food allergy; perception; public health; school