Development and Evaluation of a Mobile Web-based Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Educational Program for Parents of School-aged Children with Food Allergy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose

This study aimed to develop a mobile web-based food allergy (FA) and anaphylaxis management educational program for parents of school-aged children with food allergies and evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods

A mobile program was developed based on a web-based teaching-learning system model. Its effectiveness was subsequently evaluated using a parallel, randomized controlled pre- and post-test design. This study included 73 parents of school-aged children with food allergies. These parents were randomly assigned to either the experimental (n = 37) or control (n = 36) groups. The experimental group participated in a 2-week mobile web-based educational program that covered major topics in FA and anaphylaxis management. These topics included an understanding of food allergies and anaphylaxis, learning techniques for using an epinephrine auto-injector, and developing an emergency action plan. An educational booklet was provided to the control group. Participants completed a pre-test and two post-test questionnaires to evaluate the impact of the program. The assessment tools were the Food Allergy Knowledge Test, Food Allergy Self-Efficacy for Parents, and Food Management and Adaptation Scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a test of homogeneity for the pre-test, an independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA.

Results

The experimental group experienced greater improvement in the knowledge of FA (post-intervention t = 14.51, p < .001; 2 weeks post-intervention, t = 16.15, p < .001), FA self-efficacy (post-intervention t = 77.99, p < .001; 2 weeks post-intervention, t = 76.09, p < .001), and practice behavior in FA management (post-intervention t = 28.10, p < .001; 2 weeks post-intervention, t = 27.98, p < .001) after web-based FA education.

Conclusion

This study revealed improvements in the knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice behaviors of parents regarding FA and anaphylaxis management. Therefore, the mobile web-based educational program can contribute to the effective management of food allergies and anaphylaxis for parents of school-aged children. CRIS registration: KCT0007491.