Abstract ID: 152
Authors:
Hugo WF Mak
Michaela Lucas
Jasmine TY Lee
Rishabh Kulkarni
Sophia Siu Chee Chan
Philip H Li
Affiliations:
Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Medical School, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia.
Abstract:Background Mislabelled drug allergy (DA) is a public health challenge worldwide. Unfortunately, many non-Allergist physicians remain suboptimally equipped with the necessary knowledge and confidence to evaluate and manage DA. A randomised crossover trial, Advances in Drug Allergy & Penicillin Testing (ADAPT; NCT06399601), was first conducted in late 2023 and demonstrated promising outcomes in improving physicians’ DA knowledge and confidence through an intensive educational programme. Following ADAPT’s success, we commenced a multinational phase in 2024 the ADAPT-2. Methods Non-Allergist physicians were recruited from 4 localities, namely Australia, Hong Kong, mainland China and Sri Lanka, and received a 1-day intensive training in DA. The training programme in mainland China was translated into Mandarin with artificial intelligence (AI) assistance. Participants’ DA knowledge, confidence, and practice were evaluated by structured surveys (scored on a 0 100 scale) before and after the course. Subgroup analysis was performed between physicians from Advanced and Emerging Economies (AE and EE) Results A total of 181 physicians (13 [7.2%] from Australia, 25 [13.8%] from Hong Kong, 98 [54.1%] from mainland China and 45 [24.9%] from Sri Lanka) were included. At baseline, physicians’ knowledge and confidence level for DA were unsatisfactory (53.5±17.2 and 47.5±22.7, respectively). In particular, physicians from EE (mainland China and Sri Lanka) showed significantly lower scores than those from AE (Australia and Hong Kong) in DA knowledge (49.1±15.5 vs. 70.1±12.7, P<0.001), but not in confidence (46.8±23.2 vs. 50.2±20.9, P=0.413). After ADAPT-2, there were significant improvements in DA knowledge (53.5±17.2 to 72.5±16.0, P<0.001) and confidence (47.5±22.7 to 71.2±17.6, P<0.001). AI-assisted translation was non-inferior to the native programme in effectiveness (P>0.05) and had high satisfaction (98% somewhat clear or better). Conclusions Lack of DA knowledge among non-specialists remains ubiquitous with significant disparities between AE and EE. An intensive, structured, AI-assisted training is effective to significantly enhance participants’ knowledge levels.
Keywords: Global Health Education and Technology, Drug allergy, Delabelling, Disparities, Education, Artificial Intelligence
