The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2018 , Vol 60 , Num 1
Knowledge levels related to allergen specific immunotherapy and perspectives of parents whose children were diagnosed with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis in Turkey
Sakine Işık 1 ,Şule Çağlayan-Sözmen 1 ,Suna Asilsoy 1 ,Serdar Kamer Kılıçarslan 2 ,Özden Anal 1 ,Özkan Karaman 1 ,Nevin Uzuner 1
1 Departments of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
2 Departments of Pediatrics, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2018.01.007 Işık S, Çağlayan-Sözmen Ş, Asilsoy S, Kılıçarslan SK, Anal Ö, Karaman Ö, Uzuner N. Knowledge levels related to allergen specific immunotherapy and perspectives of parents whose children were diagnosed with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis in Turkey. Turk J Pediatr 2018; 60: 50-55.

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the knowledge levels and perspectives about allergen specific immunotherapy (ASI) of parents whose children were diagnosed with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis with positive skin prick test. The study was conducted between September 2014 and January 2015. Surveys that were filled by 198 parents were analyzed. One hundred-ninety-eight parents were included in the study; 42.9% of the parents had knowledge about ASI. Parents obtained information about the ASI from respectively pediatric allergy specialists (25.5%), relatives and friends (17.8%), media (12.9%), and pediatrician (8.2%). There is a strong association between educational level of the mother, atopy background of the family, the monthly per capita income, and having knowledge about the ASI. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that individuals with a monthly income higher than 2,000 TL were more likely to be aware of the ASI application (OR: 4.35, 95% CI: 1.13-16.71; p<0.05). Eighty-nine percent of the parents stated that they would prefer the sublingual ASI instead of subcutaneous ASI because it is easy to use and its severe side effects risk is low. The awareness of the ASI is at high rates in our patient population. Keywords : allergen specific immunotherapy, allergic rhinitis, asthma, children, knowledge level, perspective

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