Home|Journals|Articles by Year|Audio Abstracts
 

Original Article

IJMDC. 2022; 6(7): 942-949


Assessing the quality of life and environment safety for Saudi food allergic patients in the Makkah region, Saudi Arabia

Rawan A. Alosaimy, Murouj A. Almaghrabi, Ahaad M. Basahal, Amjad A. Alharthi, Bashaer S. Khawandanah, Ghofran T. Zamil, Ruba O. Alansari, Amna A. Alotiby.




Abstract

Background: Food allergy is a costly health issue that can have a negative impact on a patient’s well-being. The current study aims to evaluate the quality of life of patients with food allergies using the healthcare system, coping strategies, management knowledge, and environmental safety.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional, survey-based study, including patients with food allergies in the Makkah region, Saudi Arabia. To achieve the study’s aim, an online survey with 21-items was created and distributed between April and June 2021. Data were exported automatically to Excel onto Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for analysis.
Results: A total of 90 food allergy patients were included. About two-thirds (67.8%) had anaphylaxis. The most common reported food allergies were eggs and seafood equally (44.4% for each), followed by some types of fruits (41.1%), then nuts (25.6%). Regarding using the healthcare system, (63.3%) were diagnosed with food allergy by a doctor, and only (13.3%) routinely followed up. Excellent management knowledge was detected among (65.6%) of the participants. Around a third (36.7%) have at workplace/school a certified first-aid provider for allergic food reactions. For coping strategies, the patients were open to sharing their health condition with their family and friends (88.9% and 51.1%, respectively) compared to carrying a card or a self-injection of epinephrine (1.1% for each item).
Conclusion: The current study revealed excellent levels of knowledge among food-allergic patients. Nevertheless, poor practices toward the healthcare systems and inadequate environmental safety were observed. Educational projects for food-allergic patients are critical.

Key words: Quality of life, coping, safety, food allergy, Saudi Arabia






Full-text options


Share this Article


Online Article Submission
• ejmanager.com




ejPort - eJManager.com
Refer & Earn
JournalList
About BiblioMed
License Information
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Contact Us

The articles in Bibliomed are open access articles licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.