Questionnaire Survey for Pregnant Women about Allergic Conditions in Children / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

Awareness surveys on children with allergic diseases observed during infant medical examinations have been reported. However, there have been no such surveys on pregnant women with allergic diseases. Questionnaires were distributed to 255 pregnant women who participated in infant care training at our hospital between April 2005 and March 2016. We investigated food allergy (FA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) awareness among the women. They were separated into primigravida or multipara groups. Women who worked as medical personnel and those with incomplete responses were excluded. A total of 239 women responded, with a response rate of 94%. We enrolled 180 primigravidas and 42 multiparas in this study. No significant differences were observed in median age (interquartile range) between the groups 30 years (26-34 years) and 30 years (20-41 years) in the primigravida and multipara groups, respectively. In the primipara group, 61% women responded that the diagnosis of allergy was made from blood examination, and 64% of the multiparas responded that the diagnosis was by oral food challenge and skin testing, which showed significantly greater immediate reaction (p < 0.001, respectively). Also, 55% of the multiparas reported that improved skin care without eczema prevented the development of AD, which was significantly less than the 71% of primigravidas (p = 0.02). Significantly fewer multiparas (17%) than primigravidas (36%) were unable to use steroid topical medication for eczema (p < 0.01). Our results suggest that it is important to provide pregnant women with accurate information on the diagnosis of FA and treatments for AD.