Multidisciplinary education improves school personnel's self-efficacy in managing food allergy and anaphylaxis

Despite a relatively high risk for allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, schools are not sufficiently trained and confident in handling children suffering from food allergy. This study aimed to measure the improvement of school personnel's self-efficacy in managing food allergy and anaphylaxis at school after a specific multidisciplinary training course.

A total of 592 teachers and school caretakers completed the School Personnel Self-Efficacy-Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Questionnaire (S.PER.SE-FAAQ) before and after the course. The median difference, along with I quartile and III quartile, in scores between baseline and post-intervention assessment was calculated. A conditional regression tree was fitted for each outcome measured after the educational intervention.

At baseline, school personnel reported low self-efficacy in anaphylaxis management (AM), especially in recognizing anaphylaxis symptoms and administering proper drugs. After the specific multidisciplinary training course, all scores improved. AM scores particularly showed a significant increase. School personnel's post-training self-efficacy was found to be related to initial levels. Some indicative threshold values emerged. Remarkably, participants with a low self-efficacy at baseline seemed to particularly benefit from the training.

Results highlighted the effectiveness of specific multidisciplinary training courses in improving teachers' and school caretakers' self-efficacy in managing food allergy and anaphylaxis. The S.PER.SE-FAAQ is confirmed to be an easy and helpful tool to assess the level of food allergy and anaphylaxis management in the school staff and training effectiveness.