Table 2 Questionnaire results
From: Physician practice in food allergy prevention in the Middle East and North Africa
Question | All physicians | Pediatricians | Pediatric Gastroenterologists | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | n | % | N | n | % | N | n | % | ||||
Do you routinely identify infants at risk for developing allergy? | 1476 | Yes | 1130 | 76.6 | 975 | Yes | 747 | 76.6 | 105 | Yes | 76 | 72.4 |
No | 346 | 23.4 | No | 228 | 23.4 | No | 29 | 27.6 | ||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, do you recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months? | 1471 | Yes | 1310 | 89.1 | 972 | Yes | 859 | 88.4 | 105 | Yes | 95 | 90.5 |
No | 161 | 10.9 | No | 113 | 11.6 | No | 10 | 9.5 | ||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, who is exclusively breast fed, do you routinely recommend avoidance of any of the allergenic foods (cow’s milk, egg, fish, peanut, soy, wheat) in the lactating mother? | 1462 | Yes | 754 | 51.6 | 965 | Yes | 548 | 56.8 | 105 | Yes | 33 | 31.4 |
No | 708 | 48.4 | No | 417 | 43.2 | No | 72 | 68.6 | ||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, who is breast and formula fed (mix feeding), which type of formula do you recommend? | ||||||||||||
• Standard (regular) infant formula | 1458 | 365 | 25.0 | 961 | 211 | 22.0 | 105 | 33 | 31.4 | |||
• pH formula (HA formula) | 890 | 61.0 | 605 | 63.0 | 58 | 55.2 | ||||||
• Extensively hydrolysed formula | 117 | 8.0 | 87 | 9.1 | 10 | 9.5 | ||||||
• Soy infant formula | 57 | 3.9 | 42 | 4.4 | 2 | 1.9 | ||||||
• Other | 23 | 1.6 | 15 | 1.6 | 2 | 1.9 | ||||||
• Combination of formula | 6 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, who is exclusively formula, which type of formula do you recommend? | ||||||||||||
• Standard (regular) infant formula | 1424 | 320 | 22.5 | 939 | 183 | 19.5 | 104 | 38 | 36.5 | |||
• pH formula (HA formula) | 822 | 57.7 | 533 | 56.8 | 55 | 52.9 | ||||||
• Extensively hydrolysed formula | 191 | 13.4 | 148 | 15.8 | 10 | 9.6 | ||||||
• Soy infant formula | 73 | 5.1 | 61 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
• Other | 14 | 1.0 | 10 | 1.1 | 1 | 1.0 | ||||||
• Combination of formula | 4 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, do you recommend delaying the introduction of complementary foods compared with non-at-risk infants? | 1444 | Yes | 731 | 50.6 | 950 | Yes | 495 | 52.1 | 104 | Yes | 53 | 51.0 |
No | 713 | 49.4 | No | 455 | 47.9 | No | 51 | 49.0 | ||||
In an infant at risk for developing allergy, do you recommend postponing the introduction of potentially allergenic foods (egg, cow’s milk, wheat, fish, peanut) compared with non-at-risk infants? | 1434 | Yes | 896 | 62.5 | 942 | Yes | 576 | 61.1 | 103 | Yes | 65 | 63.1 |
No | 538 | 37.5 | No | 366 | 38.9 | No | 38 | 36.9 | ||||
Follow all current recommendations on primary prevention of allergy | 1481 | Yes | 98 | 6.6 | 979 | Yes | 60 | 6.1 | 105 | Yes | 8 | 7.6 |
No | 1383 | 93.4 | No | 919 | 93.9 | No | 97 | 92.4 | ||||