Feketea Gavriela, Lakoumentas John, Papatriantafyllou Evangelia, Douladiris Nikolaos, Efthymiou Dimitris, Stanciu Luminita Aurelia, Vassilopoulou Emilia
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, "luliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Department of Pediatrics, "Karamandaneio" Children's Hospital of Patra, 26331 Patras, Greece.
Children (Basel). 2023 Mar 11;10(3):541. doi: 10.3390/children10030541.
Schoolchildren are likely to consume meals and snacks at school, with a possibility of allergic food reactions and anaphylaxis in the school environment. The school personnel should be informed of the presence of schoolchildren with food allergy (FA) and need to be trained in the management of allergic reactions, as to prepare them to intervene appropriately when necessary. Limited knowledge of FA and its management is documented globally among school staff and there is no uniform protocol in schools.
In this observational cross-sectional study, teachers at state schools throughout Greece completed an online anonymous questionnaire on their awareness of FA reactions and the plans for the management of medical emergencies in their schools of employment.
Among the 289 teachers who responded the online invitation, 203 (70.24%) were female and 157 (54%) were aged under 40 years. Females expressed a higher level of concern about the presence of school personnel trained to manage FA symptoms ( = 0.001), written instructions, and the availability of adrenaline (epinephrine) at school ( < 0.001). A younger age was associated with a higher level of both interest and knowledge on FA management in schools. School directors were more certain about the availability of a special record of children with FA at school ( = 0.01), the availability of adrenaline ( = 0.006), and written guidelines on the management of serious health incidents at school ( = 0.04). Written guidelines instructing children to avoid sharing cutlery, glasses, home-prepared meals, and snacks bought from the school canteen were more common in schools in urban areas ( = 0.015). Only 20% of respondents could confirm with certainty that adrenaline autoinjectors (AAIs) were available at their schools, for the purpose of administering to children in the case of a severe FA reaction. Approximately 3/4 of the participating teachers stated that completion of this questionnaire raised their awareness of the risk of FA reactions in children at school.
This study, the first in Greece to explore the knowledge of teachers about FA in schoolchildren, revealed the following absences in many schools: a process for identifying children with FA, a written emergency treatment plan, and immediate access to emergency AAI. School FA guidelines are necessary in Greece, and training, which includes the use of AAIs, is required to prepare teachers to manage FA reactions in children at school.
学童可能在学校就餐和吃零食，在学校环境中存在食物过敏反应和过敏反应的可能性。应告知学校工作人员学校中有食物过敏（FA）的学童情况，并且他们需要接受过敏反应管理方面的培训，以便在必要时做好适当干预的准备。全球范围内，学校工作人员对FA及其管理的了解有限，而且学校没有统一的方案。
在这项观察性横断面研究中，希腊各地公立学校的教师完成了一份关于他们对FA反应的认识以及所在学校医疗紧急情况管理计划的在线匿名调查问卷。
在回复在线邀请的289名教师中，203名（70.24%）为女性，157名（54%）年龄在40岁以下。女性对有接受过管理FA症状培训的学校工作人员的存在（P = 0.001）、书面说明以及学校肾上腺素（副肾素）的可用性表现出更高程度的关注（P < 0.001）。年龄较小与对学校FA管理的兴趣和知识水平较高相关。学校负责人对学校有FA儿童的特殊记录的可用性（P = 0.01）、肾上腺素的可用性（P = 0.006）以及学校严重健康事件管理的书面指南（P = 0.04）更有把握。指示儿童避免共享餐具、杯子、家庭自制餐食和从学校食堂购买的零食的书面指南在城市地区的学校更为常见（P = 0.015）。只有20%的受访者能够确定地确认他们学校有肾上腺素自动注射器（AAIs），用于在严重FA反应时给儿童使用。大约四分之三的参与教师表示，完成这份问卷提高了他们对学校儿童FA反应风险的认识。
这项希腊首次探索教师对学童FA知识的研究揭示了许多学校存在以下缺失：识别FA儿童的流程、书面紧急治疗计划以及立即获取紧急AAIs。希腊需要学校FA指南，并且需要进行包括AAIs使用在内的培训，以使教师做好在学校管理儿童FA反应的准备。
