Talking with Dr. Susan Waserman About the Epinephrine Access and Knowledge Survey

If you or your child have food allergies or other allergies that put you at risk for anaphylaxis, we hope you will take the new online survey about access to epinephrine. Led by Dr. Susan Waserman at McMaster University in collaboration with Food Allergy Canada and other patient groups and stakeholders, it involves patients in more than 20 countries. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and all data collected will remain anonymous.

We spoke recently with Dr Waserman about the survey and the broader study (which is entitled Global review of epinephrine availability and anaphylaxis management practices amongst patient organization countries).

Who came up with the idea for this study?
Dr. Waserman: The idea for this study initially came from the patient groups, such as Food Allergy Canada. McMaster, like the patient groups, thought it was very important to survey the landscape of epinephrine access in various countries.

What kind of information are you gathering?
Dr. Waserman: It includes the number of devices available, need for prescription, price, other barriers and facilitators. The survey also asks about prevalence of food allergens in different countries.

Why is this information important?
Dr. Waserman: The goal is to identify gaps in access, help address these gaps by fortifying local patient groups to advocate for their patients and influence policy if required at the level of government and possibly industry. Also, it can help to empower patient groups to share best practices with one another and foster mutual collaboration in future research projects amongst all patient groups.

What is McMaster’s role?
Dr. Waserman: Since the aim was to conduct a scientifically rigorous survey worthy of publication in a high impact journal, McMaster has agreed to do the ethics submission, consent for patient groups, contribute and help design surveys for patient groups and consumers, collect and analyze the data and write the manuscript.

Thank you, Dr. Waserman.

Dr. Waserman: Thank you.

• Take the Survey Now