{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T13:59:39Z","timestamp":1791295179659,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]],"date-time":"2024-08-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722556800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>A child's fear of needles may impact the preferred route of allergy immunotherapy (AIT) when choosing between subcutaneous immunotherapy (allergy shots) or sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). A survey was conducted to understand caregiver health-seeking behavior for children with allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis (AR\/C) and explore if fear of needles impacted AIT decisions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Caregivers of children ages 5\u201317 years with AR\/C were recruited from the Dynata US research panel to participate in an online survey from May-June 2023. The survey received institutional review board exemption status. SLIT-tablets were described as \u201cunder-the-tongue tablets\u201d.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>About a third (34%) of surveyed caregivers (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009437) reported their child had a severe fear of needles and 47% reported moderate fear. Of surveyed caregivers, 53% and 43% reported they had discussed allergy shots and SLIT-tablets, respectively, with their child's physician. SLIT-tablets were preferred by 84% of caregivers; 6% preferred injections and 10% had no preference. Caregivers of children with a severe fear of needles had the highest preference for SLIT-tablets (95%) vs. injections (2%); 85% and 60% of caregivers of children with moderate and low fear, respectively, preferred SLIT-tablets. Among caregivers of children with a severe fear of needles, a higher percentage agreed that their child would welcome taking SLIT-tablets than that their child would accept taking an ongoing series of allergy shots (93% vs. 43%, respectively).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Most caregivers preferred SLIT-tablets over allergy shots for their child with AR\/C. Preference for SLIT-tablets corresponded with the child's degree of fear of needles. Fear of needles should be included in AIT shared decision-making conversations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2024.1447619","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]],"date-time":"2024-08-02T09:53:54Z","timestamp":1722592434000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Degree of fear of needles and preferred allergy immunotherapy treatment among children with allergic rhinitis: caregiver survey 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