Personal experiences of teenagers with food hypersensitivity

Mackenzie, Heather, Van Laar, Darren, Roberts, Graham and Dean, Taraneh (2007) Personal experiences of teenagers with food hypersensitivity. XX World Allergy Congress, , Bangkok, Thailand. 02 - 06 Dec 2007.

Abstract

Background: Teenagers are a high-risk group for food-hypersensitivity (FHS)
fatalities and engage in risk-taking in managing their condition. Existing
research has identified anxiety and impaired quality of life in children with
FHS and their parents. To date, however, research has not addressed what the
experience of living with FHS is like for teenagers. This study therefore aimed
to describe the lived experiences of teenagers with FHS.

Methods: Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with
21 UK teenagers (aged 13-18 years) with a pre-existing diagnosis of FHS.
Participants were hypersensitive to a range of foods and experienced a variety
of reactions. Participants were excluded if they had a concomitant non-allergic
disease. Interviews explored the lives of the teenagers generally with particular
attention paid to the experience of living with FHS. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and were then analysed using a phenomenological
approach.

Results: Four main themes were identified: FHS as a way of life, managing
FHS as an assessment of acceptable risk versus acceptable burden, living with
FHS as coping with necessary burden, and alleviation/exacerbation of the
burden of living with FHS. For participants the process of managing FHS was
not described as problematic but as a way of life. Managing FHS was described
as negotiable rather than prescriptive and was based on an assessment of
acceptable risk versus acceptable burden. Negotiating management did not
however completely relieve the burden felt and participants felt that a
necessary part of living with FHS was coping with necessary burden and a
variety of coping strategies were employed to this effect. Participants also
described ways in which the burden of living with FHS is alleviated or
exacerbated both by them personally and by others whose behaviour affects
their life with FHS.

Conclusion: The themes provide some explanations for why teenagers with
FHS engage in risky behaviours and describe how teenagers cope with managing FHS and what factors make living with FHS easier or more difficult.
The themes indicate ways in which the lives of teenagers with FHS can be
improved and therefore provide new information about living with FHS from
the perspective of teenagers that will be of use to healthcare practitioners
working with teenagers with FHS.

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Contributors

Author: Heather Mackenzie

Author: Graham Roberts

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