Self-administration of epinephrine in children: a survey of current prescription practice and recommendations for improvement.

The prevalence of peanut allergy is increasing rapidly and many children are now prescribed self-injectable epinephrine as part of their management. We aimed to examine the current extent of self-injectable epinephrine dispensing to children in the Eastern Health and Social Services Board (EHSSB), Northern Ireland, including indications for prescription, investigations performed, information and training provided and actual usage. Dispensing records held by the EHSSB were examined for the period May to August 1998. All general practitioners prescribing 'Epipens' during this period were contacted and asked to identify the patient and provide contact details. Information was gathered using postal questionnaires sent to General Practitioners and parents. A total of 104 'Epipen' prescriptions were dispensed. Thirty-seven (36%) general practitioners responded to the initial questionnaire; of these 36 (35%) were suitable for analysis. Thirty-four parents were then contacted; 28 (82%) returned questionnaires were reviewed. The commonest indication for 'Epipen' prescription was peanut allergy (32 of 36 (89%) general practitioner responses; 25 of 28 (89%) parent responses). Twenty-six (72%) children had been seen by a specialist; all except one had either blood or skin tests. Six of the remaining eight children had no investigations. General practitioners reported 14 (39%) parents to have basic life support training, compared with six (21%) parents. Eighteen (64%) parents had been given written information regarding their child's allergy, nine (32%) had been referred to a dietician and seven (25%) children wore a medical warning bracelet. The Epipen had been used by three children; all three had multiple food allergies. This study has identified a great variability in the management of children with allergy including the need for specialist referral, further investigation, written allergy advice, referral to a dietician and formalised training in basic life support and administration of epinephrine. It suggests a lack of consensus amongst health care professionals as to the best practice in the management of potentially life threatening food allergy and indicates, at least, a need for better multidisciplinary communication.