Living with food allergy often means navigating tough choices: strict avoidance forever? Explore new treatments like oral immunotherapy? Weigh risks versus benefits? Ideally, these decisions happen collaboratively between patient and doctor through shared decision-making (SDM).
But a new study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reveals a big hurdle: many allergists overestimate how well-informed their patients feel about treatment options.
Lead author was Thomas Casale, MD, FAAAAI, along with co-authors including Ari Zelig, MD, and others affiliated with medical and research entities.
This work highlights a key gap in food allergy care: discordance (mismatch) between healthcare providers (HCPs/allergists) and patients regarding treatment familiarity, satisfaction, and barriers to shared decision-making (SDM) - the collaborative process where clinicians and patients jointly make choices based on evidence and patient values/preferences.
Key findings from the abstract include:
While 44% of HCPs believed their patients were familiar or very familiar with FDA-approved food allergy treatments, only 15-18% of patients actually reported such familiarity.
While nearly half of healthcare providers think their patients know FDA-approved therapies well, fewer than 1 in 5 patients actually report feeling familiar with them. Satisfaction levels and views on decision-making barriers also diverge sharply.
The encouraging takeaway? Education makes a difference. By closing the knowledge gap with clear, accessible information, patients gain confidence, feel more satisfied, and engage more actively in SDM. This leads to choices that better align with personal values, potentially improving adherence, outcomes, and peace of mind.
For anyone managing food allergies - or caring for someone who is - this underscores the power of informed partnership. Doctors: keep explaining. Patients: keep asking. Together, better decisions are possible.
References:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009167492501557X