Asia Pac Allergy.  2016 Apr;6(2):105-111. 10.5415/apallergy.2016.6.2.105.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey of drug allergy among healthcare practitioners in central China: a multicenter study

• Wang Y
• Zhu R
• Huang N
• Li W
• Yang L
• Zhang S
• Liu G

• KMID: 2396979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5415/apallergy.2016.6.2.105

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Drug allergy (DA) is one of the most important contributors to iatrogenic morbidity and mortality. Currently DA remains a major challenge for healthcare practitioners (HCPs).
OBJECTIVE
To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of DA among HCPs in Central China.
METHODS
A 25-item self-administered DA questionnaire were developed and applied in our study. The questionnaire covered 3 domains: knowledge, attitudes, and practice patterns. From July 2015 to October 2015, HCPs in 7 cities of Central China anonymously participated in the cross-sectional study.
RESULTS
A total of 350 HCPs participated the study, 91 questionnaires uncompleted and 259 were analyzed. Among the respondents, 166 (64.1%) were doctors, 55 (21.2%) were nurses and 38 (14.7%) were medical students. The mean knowledge precision was 59.8%. HCPs agreed that drug induced immediate allergic reactions were IgE mediated (83.4%) and happened within 6 hours after drug administration (89.6%), and epinephrine was the first choice for drug induced anaphylaxis (79.5%). They also agreed that penicillin skin test was valuable to predict allergic reaction (88.4%). However, high proportion of HCPs (66.0%) believed glucocorticoids had an impact on drug skin test rather than antihistamines (4.2%), 47.1% never performed positive and negative control during skin test. More than 90% of the respondents would take patients' allergic history before drug administration, 98.8% agreed that they should receive advanced training of DA knowledge and practice.
CONCLUSION
The HCPs demonstrated a low level of knowledge regarding DA. Advanced education is urgently needed for better understanding and filling the gaps exist in knowledge and clinical practice of DA.

Keyword

Knowledge; Attitude; Practice, Drug allergy, Healthcare practitioner

MeSH Terms

Anaphylaxis
Anonyms and Pseudonyms
China*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Delivery of Health Care*
Drug Hypersensitivity*
Education
Epinephrine
Glucocorticoids
Histamine Antagonists
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E
Mortality
Penicillins
Skin Tests
Students, Medical
Surveys and Questionnaires
Epinephrine
Glucocorticoids
Histamine Antagonists
Immunoglobulin E
Penicillins