Differences in Familiarity with Oral Immunotherapy Among Caregivers of White and Black Food-Allergic Children

Megan Bannon, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio. Electronic address: Megan.Bannon@cchmc.org.
Neil Thivalapill, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Eirene Fithian, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Jialing Jiang, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Linda Herbert, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Susan Fox, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Christopher Warren, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Hemant Sharma, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Mahboobeh Mahdavinia, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Ruchi Gupta, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Lucy Bilaver, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Amal Assa'Ad, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

8-21-2024

Journal

Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology

DOI

10.1016/j.anai.2024.08.022

Keywords

Children; Disparities; Ethnicity; FORWARD; Food allergy; Oral Immunotherapy; Race

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Potential racial and ethnic disparities related to oral immunotherapy (OIT) have not been fully described among children with food allergy (FA). OBJECTIVE: To characterize the differences in attitudes towards, familiarity with, and utilization of OIT among non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and Hispanic or Latino (H/L) caregivers of children with FA. METHODS: Surveys were administered to the caregivers of children enrolled in Food Allergy Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences (FORWARD), a prospective, multisite cohort of children with FA. The distribution of responses by caregiver-reported race and ethnicity was described using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous outcomes and chi-squared tests for categorical outcomes. A logistic regression model was used to determine associations between familiarity with OIT as a treatment option and various other covariates. RESULTS: NHB and H/L respondents were more frequently not familiar with OIT compared to NHW responders (54.3% and 62.5% vs. 9.2%, p < 0.001). This finding remained true, even after adjusting for household income (OR: 0.1, 95% CI: 0.1, 0.4 for NHB participants and OR: 0.1, 95% CI: 0.0, 0.3 for H/L participants). NHB and H/L participants more frequently reported that they had never heard of OIT before the survey compared to NHW participants (76.7% and 50.0% vs. 26.7%, p < 0.001). None of the NHB and H/L respondents initiated OIT compared to 14.8% of NHW participants (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In the FORWARD cohort, familiarity with OIT was lower among caregivers of minoritized racial and ethnic groups, even after adjusting for household income.

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

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