A Cross-Sectional Study on Prevalance of Food Allergy and Its Knowledge Among Malaysian Population

Food allergy can cause severe acute allergic reactions such as hives, rashes and generalized swelling, eczema, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach aches, asthma and sinusitis. Allergy to food substances may seem common in Malaysia but available data is limited. Since it is detrimental in certain circumstances, hence the awareness regarding allergies is crucial. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence rate of food allergy, to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of food allergy and to determine the relationship between the status of food allergy and knowledge of food allergy among Malaysia population. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive study using a validated questionnaire shared with 321 respondents aged 18 years and above from all over Malaysia. Descriptive analysis was conducted to gauge the prevalence while Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between status of allergy and knowledge. There were 105 respondents with food allergy and the prevalence rate was 0.42 per 100,000 people which was considerably lower compared to other countries like Korea and US. 19% of respondents answered that food intolerance and food allergy were the same as opposed to a study in US reporting a value of 64.9%. The Pearson correlation analysis showed there were significant relationship between the status of allergy and knowledge level of food allergy (p<0.05). The study showed that Malaysian population had a moderate knowledge towards food allergy. This is a cause for concern because lack of knowledge may cause severe consequences when related to food allergy.