Prevention and Management of Food Allergies

Food Allergy Clinical Trial

Official title:

Engaging Food Service Workers in the Prevention of Food Allergy-related Adverse Events

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02377284
• Other study ID #: 818836
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 2013
• Est. completion date: September 2014

Study information

• Verified date: June 2018
• Source: University of Pennsylvania
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This pilot study will test the use of visual cues to engage food service workers in protecting patrons with food allergies. Food service workers from Philadelphia quick-service restaurants were recruited to participate in a survey of attitudes that includes an embedded randomized experiment testing an experimental cue (photograph of an allergic child) to increase workers' engagement and empathy.

Description:

Aim: Investigators pilot-tested a novel strategy to engage food service workers, by using a visual cue to increase the workers empathy for and desire to protect the patrons health and safety.

Why intervene with food service workers? Both food allergies and allergenic foods are common, as is eating, making accidental ingestion of allergenic foods almost inevitable. Risks may be particularly pronounced in out-of-home contexts (restaurants, school cafeterias, etc.), where the food allergic person must rely on service workers to assure their safety. Therefore, food service workers are important partners in the prevention of adverse events.

Design: Within the context of a survey of food service workers, investigators embedded a randomized experiment. In this experiment, investigators randomly assigned survey participants to one of two conditions: a Personalized vs. Depersonalized Chef Card. Depersonalized Chef Cards included simple written instructions regarding the patron's specific food allergies, including explicit guidance regarding foods to be avoided and information regarding the seriousness of the allergy. Personalized Chef Cards included identical written instructions and information, as well as a photograph of a patron with food allergies.

Hypothesis: Service workers exposed to the Personalized (compared to Depersonalized) Chef Cards will demonstrate greater empathy, sympathy, willingness to help, and vigilance regarding food allergies and their management.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 187
• Est. completion date: September 2014
• Est. primary completion date: September 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Employed at a quick-service restaurant

• Speaks English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Work at a table-only establishment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Empathy
• Food Allergy
• Food Hypersensitivity
• Hypersensitivity

Intervention

Other:
• Photograph
Add a photograph to a chef card.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Pennsylvania

References & Publications (1)

Dupuis R, Meisel Z, Grande D, Strupp E, Kounaves S, Graves A, Frasso R, Cannuscio CC. Food allergy management among restaurant workers in a large U.S. city. Food control 63:147-57, 2016.

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Mean knowledge and attitude scores reported by participants in both study groups	Mean scores (on a scale from 0-100, assessed using a survey) for knowledge and attitudes regarding food allergic patrons among both the intervention and control groups.	Investigators measured primary outcomes on Day 1 for each participant.
Secondary	Mean empathy and desire to learn scores reported by participants in both study groups	Mean scores (on a scale from 0-100, assessed using a survey) for willingness to assist patrons with food allergies and desire to learn more about food allergies among both the intervention and control groups.	Investigators measured secondary outcomes on Day 1 for each participant.