Health literacy of parents with a food allergic child and the relationship between their anxiety levels and diet adaptation

The prevalence of food allergies is increasing worldwide. Parents with children with food allergies face various problems. This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between health literacy, anxiety levels and dietary compliance of parents with a food allergic children. The research was carried out with 390 parents in the Pediatric Immunology and Allergy Diseases Clinic of Balıkesir University Health Practice and Research Hospital between 15.02.2021 and 31.08.2021. The research data were collected by the researcher from the parents of the patients by face-to-face interview technique in the clinic environment by using the "Survey Form", "State Anxiety Scale" and "Health Literacy Scale". The number, percentage, Chi-square test and Fisher's Exact tests, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Dunn test, Pearson coefficient of correlation, Spearman's rho coefficient of correlation were used in the analysis of data. The linear regression analysis was used to examine the effect of independent variables on scale scores. In the study, type 1 error values of p<0.05 were considered significant. The average age of the participant parents was 29.60 ± 4.9. 93.6% of the parents were women, 51.3% are university graduates, and 62.3% have 1 child. Parents' state anxiety scale total score average was 47.28 ± 10.32 and the total average of health literacy score was 114.26 ± 9.34. The effect of diet compliance questions affecting the anxiety score was significant (F=4.124, p<0.001). After their child was diagnosed with allergy, the anxiety level of those who followed a restricted diet was lower and those who received information about a restricted diet had a higher level of anxiety. The health literacy level of parents with a higher education level was found to be higher. It was determined that parents with a food allergic child received low level of information about diet from the allergy clinic nurse. In conclusion, it is recommended to teach children and parents with food allergies, identify food allergens, eliminate food allergens from the diet and provide diet education on avoiding allergic foods and education in reading food labels. Keywords: Child, food allergy, adherence to diet, health literacy, anxiety, parent