P095: Bridging knowledge gaps in anaphylaxis management through a video-based educational tool

Abstract

Introduction: Cases of anaphylaxis in children are often not appropriately managed by caregivers. We aimed to develop and to test the effectiveness of an education tool to help pediatric patients and their families better understand anaphylaxis and its management and to improve current knowledge and treatment guidelines adherence. Methods: The GEAR (Guidelines and Educational programs based on an Anaphylaxis Registry) is an initiative that recruits children with food-induced anaphylaxis who have visited the ED at the Montreal Children's Hospital and at The Children's Clinic located in Montreal, Quebec. The patients and parents, together, were asked to complete six questions related to the triggers, recognition and management of anaphylaxis at the time of presentation to the allergy clinic. Participants were automatically shown a 5-minute animated video addressing the main knowledge gaps related to the causes and management of anaphylaxis. At the end of the video, participants were redirected to same 6 questions to respond again. To test long-term knowledge retention, the questionnaire will be presented again in one year's time. A paired t-test was used to compare the difference between the baseline score and the follow-up score based on percentage of correct answers of the questionnaire. Results: From June to November 2019, 95 pediatric patients with diagnosed food-induced anaphylaxis were recruited. The median patient age was 4.5 years (Interquartile Range (IQR): 1.6–7.4) and half were male (51.6%). The mean questionnaire baseline score was 0.77 (77.0%, standard deviation (sd): 0.16) and the mean questionnaire follow-up score was 0.83 (83.0%, sd: 0.17). There was a significant difference between the follow-up score and baseline score (difference: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.09). There were no associations of baseline questionnaire scores and change in scores with age and sex. Conclusion: Our video teaching method was successful in educating patients and their families to better understand anaphylaxis. The next step is to acquire long-term follow up scored to determine retention of knowledge.