The Effect of An Educational Program for Pregnant Women to Prevent Allergic Diseases In Infants: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Abstract Background Allergic diseases in infants have dramatically increased in developed countries during the past few decades. To date, extensive research has been done on risk factors for allergies in infancy, and preventive measures against it. However, the effect of the primary approach to preventing infants' allergy still remains limited. The aim of this trial is to evaluate whether prenatal education interventions, including the latest public research results on allergic diseases, prevent the infant allergies onset. Methods/Design We designed a randomized, controlled, two-arm (standard prenatal education vs our education), parallel-group, assessor-blind, trial. A sample of 120 pregnant women will be recruited at Chiba Aiyukai Kinen hospital and allocation is by computer-generated randomization. Pregnant women in the intervention arm participate in the childbirth education program established by the specialist and a pediatric allergy educator. The program was developed based on evidences supporting interventions on primary prevention, which are suggested to be beneficial to infant’s allergies in recent studies. The primary objective of the study is to determine whether it is possible to establish effective behaviors for allergy prevention during early infancy in pregnant women who participate in an educational program developed by pediatric allergy specialists. Four months after birth, their behaviors will be compared against those of pregnant women who did not participate in the program. Discussion Allergies are common in many individuals worldwide, and can be present from babyhood through the person’s lifetime. One of the strong points of this study is that it will provide pregnant women with accumulated information on preventive knowledge against allergy that can be effective in some cases, and women can apply a combination of these behavior before and after pregnancy. The results of our program will be publicized to help change the behaviors of mothers, and if the program is effective for preventing allergies in infants, it will be disclosed worldwide as a new preventive measure for allergy in infants.