Epidemiology

Parental health literacy and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases in children

The birth of a child marks the beginning of a new phase of life for parents, which can be particularly suitable for promoting health literacy (HL), health behaviour and health: Parents have many contacts with the healthcare system and are confronted with a considerable amount of information about their child's health.
Early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) refers to measures on maternal and child nutrition, as well as the avoidance of or exposure to specific allergens. Parental health literacy is an important prerequisite for many aspects of health behaviour, potentially including early childhood allergy prevention. 
Results from the first phase of the project have shown that mothers' HL increases slightly during the child's first year of life. However, there is still a lack of evidence on how HL develops over a longer period of time and how it is influenced by changing personal and situational factors. In addition, the paradigm shift towards the early introduction of allergens has not yet reached all families and measures to avoid potentially allergenic foods are still being implemented. Although there are numerous observational studies on risk factors and recent intervention studies on the prevention of childhood allergic diseases, there is a lack of understanding of how and when HL translates into positive allergy-related health behaviour and health in children. However, this could provide valuable insights for future research and intervention development. Furthermore, the patien journey that families take from recognizing the first symptoms to receiving a diagnosis and possible treatment for allergies can be lengthy. Investigating this journey can provide insights into the points where the path for families becomes particularly complicated and the role that individual HL and HL-oriented communication from healthcare professionals play.

Study objectives

The aims of this project are:

  1. To analyse the development of maternal HL over five years;
  2. To analyse parental measures for ECAP, the occurrence of allergic diseases and the associations with HL, and
  3. To explore patient journeys from the recognition of symptoms to allergy diagnosis and treatment, while analysing the role of parental HL and the role of HL-oriented communication by healthcare professionals.  

The data basis for the analyses is the KUNO-Kids Health Study (https://kunokids.info/).