Community Perspectives Toward Food Allergies

Abstract

Background: Food allergy is a widespread condition with multiple manifestations across the globe. The purpose of this study was to analyze the community's knowledge of techniques to improving food allergy awareness in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This cross-sectional poll includes 15141 Saudi residents between December 2020 and January 2021. The data was gathered using convenience/snowball sampling via an online poll. The questionnaire was created using the verified design by Gupta et al. [12]. The survey was marketed on social media and by e-mail. Results: In this study, 15142 individuals had been surveyed. This population's average overall knowledge was 57.1%. Approximately 12% of participants claimed food allergies and had previously been diagnosed with an IgE test, with 11.7% males and 12% females. Contacting a person with FA calmed about 11% of people, including 8.4% of men and 11.6% of women. Conclusion: The Saudi population has a low level of overall understanding about FA allergy. FA proportions are higher among those aged 36 to 45. The knowledge level of FA does not appear to be affected by gender, financial situation, or education level. In this study, FA prevalence rates were lower in nations with lower rates.