Table 1.
Demographic characteristics and medical history of children presenting to the Emergency Department with a food-related anaphylaxis.*
| Infants (ages <2) (n=191) % (95%CI) |
Pre-school (ages 2-5) (n=171) % (95%CI) |
School-aged (ages 6-11) (n=150) % (95%CI) |
Adolescents (12-18) (n=145) % (95%CI) |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | |||||
| Male | 69 (58 – 80) | 57 (45 – 69) | 71 (60 – 82) | 48 (35 – 61) | 0.03 |
| White race/ethnicity | 53 (41 – 65) | 49 (37 – 61) | 40 (26 – 54) | 44 (31 – 57) | 0.53 |
| Medical history‡ | |||||
| Known allergy to offending food allergen | 27 (15 – 38) | 48 (37 – 60) | 57 (43 – 71) | 51 (37 – 64) | 0.004 |
| Other known allergic problems | 63 (51 – 74) | 84 (77 – 91) | 86 (78 – 93) | 80 (71 – 90) | 0.001 |
| Prior allergic reactions to other sources | 50 (35 – 66) | 68 (56 – 79) | 65 (50 – 79) | 74 (62 – 87) | 0.12 |
| Asthma | 22 (9 – 35) | 42 (29 – 55) | 73 (58 – 87) | 54 (39 – 70) | <0.001 |
| Hayfever | NC** | 24 (13 – 35) | 36 (21 – 51) | 27 (14 – 40) | 0.001 |
| Eczema | 56 (40 – 71) | 41 (29 – 54) | NC** | NC | -- |
| Hives | 0 | NC** | NC** | 0 | -- |
| Angioedema | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| Patient owns epinephrine auto-injector | 21 (10 – 32) | 67 (56 – 78) | 67 (52 – 81) | 46 (32 – 60) | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ED, emergency department.
*
Anaphylaxis defined as allergic reaction involving 2+ organ systems or hypotension. Hypotension is defined as systolic blood pressure less than (70 + (age multiplied by 2)) for children age <10 years and systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg for children age 10-18 years.
**
NC, non-calculable. When the number of observations was <30, robust estimates could not be produced.
‡
Medical history based on patient report at the time of ED presentation.