Frequently asked questions in allergy practice

	Hypothesis & Experience  Open Access
	Asia Pac Allergy. 2014 Jan;4(1):48-53. English. Published online 2014 Jan 31.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5415/apallergy.2014.4.1.48  Copyright © 2014. Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology. Xiang-Xuan Tan,1 Peiting Xie,1 Jia-Li Kwek,1 Sock-Yuen Kwek,1 Zihui Yang,1 Weiling Soon,1 Jern-Lin Leong,2 and De-Yun Wang3 1Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore. 2ASCENT Ear Nose Throat Specialist Group, Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore 228510, Singapore. 3Department of Otolaryngology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore.  Correspondence: De Yun Wang. Department of Otolaryngology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore. Tel: +65-67725373, Fax: +65-67753820, Email: entwdy@nus.edu.sg  Received December 20, 2013; Accepted January 07, 2013. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.  This article has been cited by 1 article in    This article has been cited by Google Scholar. Abstract Background Over the last 10-20 years, international guidelines and consensus statements for the management of common allergic diseases (e.g. allergic rhinitis and asthma) have been developed and disseminated worldwide. However, their impact on knowledge and standard of clinical practice among primary care physicians and specialists is unknown. Objective To investigate need for an improvement in the dissemination of international guidelines for the diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis. Methods Seven medical students who attended 3-day 1st International Basic Allergy Course (2010) took down all questions raised during the entire course. A systemic analysis of these questions was performed to identify areas for improvement in diagnosis and management of allergic diseases mainly in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Results 268 participants, 143 males and 125 females, comprising Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists (n = 106) and trainees (n = 34), general practitioners (n = 87), and other healthcare professionals (n = 41) attended the course. Of the 103 questions recorded, 59 were regarding treatment modalities in allergy practice such as immunotherapy (n = 38), pharmacologics (n = 15), nasal surgery (n = 2), and others (n = 4). 41 questions (39.8%) have answers based in the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma guidelines (2001 and 2008). Certain questions were selected for further analysis because they appeared to be (a) more commonly asked (e.g. immunotherapy) or (b) were deemed to be challenging or, even controversial (e.g. food allergy and differential diagnosis between vasovagal and anaphylaxis reaction), as the recommendations in current international guidelines were less well-defined. Conclusion Our study identified several problems that, if tackled, could help minimize confusion and provide better care for patients suffering from allergic diseases especially in the ASEAN region. Keywords: Allergic diseases, International guidelines, Management, Immunotherapy, Vasovagal and anaphylaxis reaction, Food allergy. Formats: Article PubReader PDF Figures + Tables References Supplementary Materials