EXPLORING PARENTAL INTEREST IN IDENTIFYING THE ELICITING DOSE OF PEANUT FOR THEIR PEANUT ALLERGIC CHILD

Abstract

<h3>Introduction</h3> The eliciting dose (ED) of a food allergen, or minimum dose at which a patient is likely to react, is increasingly being used to inform precautionary allergen labeling (PAL), assess individual risk, and improve management of food allergies. However, conducting a low-dose oral food challenge to determine a patient's ED is not commonly done as part of the diagnostic work-up. Limited literature exists on parental desire to know their food-allergic child's ED. <h3>Methods</h3> We performed a prospective survey of parents with peanut-allergic children to determine their interest in performing a single-dose 10mg peanut challenge and explore variables that may be related to their interest. <h3>Results</h3> Parents of 51 peanut-allergic children were surveyed to date. Demographics of children are as follows: 62% male, 59% African American, median age of 7 years, 73% were insured by Medicaid, and 76% reported other food allergies. 69% reported avoiding foods with PAL for peanut allergy. Of all respondents, 69% reported interest in performing a one-time 10mg challenge to peanut (understanding peanut content in products with PAL likely contain less than 1mg of peanut). No variable correlated with interest in performing the challenge. <h3>Conclusion</h3> In this study to date, the majority of parents express interest in performing a low-dose challenge to peanut. Further research is needed to explore this area as it may have an impact on anxiety, social limitations, and desire to pursue therapy if parents know their child is at low risk of reaction to accidental ingestion of small amounts of peanut.