Barriers of food re-introduction after a successful food challenge

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Investigating the barriers contributing to re-introduction failure after a successful oral food challenge

• IRAS ID

  353206

• Contact name

  Louise Michaelis

• Contact email

  louise.michaelis@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  Newcastle upon tyne NHS Foundation Trust

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  16355, Clinical Effectiveness Register (CER)

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 0 months, 9 days

• Research summary

  One of the purposes of an oral food challenge (OFC) is to avoid unnecessarily eliminating foods from a children’s diet that a child is suspected of having an allergy to. When a successful oral food challenge is achieved, it is recommended the food is reintroduced back into the child’s diet after 48 hours. However, research shows that around 25-30% of children fail to have foods reintroduced into their diets. Prolonged food elimination has shown to be associated with disadvantages to a child’s health including nutritional deficiencies, increased anxiety around future food choices and for children who avoid foods in which they are sensitised to a potential increased risk of developing an acute allergy, with possibility of a serve allergic reaction in some cases. The aim of this research is to identify the main barriers to food introduction following a successful OFC to improve advice given by the allergy team and increase the rate at which food allergens are safety reintroduced.
  The study will be conducted with parents/guardians who have been seen by the Great North Children’s hospital allergy service in the allergy clinic. There will be two groups of participants. Those whose child has had a successful OFC before will be asked to complete a statement sorting task using Q-methodology software on a non-NHS trust laptop. Parents/guardians will then be asked to rank statements about their view on food reintroduction following a successful OFC. A brief interview will follow to discuss the reasons for their rankings. Those who haven't had a successful OFC yet will simply be asked to complete a questionnaire around their worries about food reintroduction if they were to have a successful OFC. In total the study will take around 10-20 minutes.
  

• REC name

  Wales REC 4

• REC reference

  25/WA/0214

• Date of REC Opinion

  20 Aug 2025

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion