ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of pregnant women whose children are at higher risk for childhood allergies and to assess knowledge of risk assessment and prevention strategies. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 310 pregnant women in an antenatal care clinic at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand. In addition to baseline demographic and obstetric characteristics, all participating pregnant women were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding risk evaluation and knowledge of childhood allergies on various topics. A childhood allergy risk assessment was evaluated based on the history of allergy disease in immediate family members. The questionnaire on knowledge was derived from a guideline issued by the Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Association of Thailand, with possible scores of 0-30. RESULTS: The mean maternal age was 30.6 years, and 139 (44.8%) were nulliparous. Overall, 86 couples (27.7%) were at high risk for childhood allergies. The mean total knowledge score was 15.2 out of 30, and only 24 women (7.7%) had an overall score of >20, and 40 women (12.9%) had an overall score of ≤10. The mean knowledge score for almost every subtopic was less than half of the possible points, except for the risk reduction strategies during pregnancy. Comparisons between those with higher and lower scores (≥16 vs. ≤15 points) showed that women with higher knowledge scores were significantly more likely to have had a previous child with an allergy (p=0.010). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pregnant women whose children were at higher risk for childhood allergies was 27.7% (86 of 310 couples). The women had limited knowledge of childhood allergies with regard to risk assessment, risk reduction strategies, and various interventions. The only factor associated with a higher knowledge score was having a previous child with an allergy.
