Abstract
Background: Cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) is one of the most common food allergies in infants, with a reported prevalence between 0.54% and 4.9%. In Europe, 1% of children are affected by CMPA in the first 2 years of life. Overdiagnosis leads to unnecessary dietary restrictions, with additional costs, while neglecting the diagnosis of CMPA has long-term repercussions on growth and development or, in the case of an acute reaction, may involve a life-threatening risk. The aim of this study is to develop a scale for family doctors to assess their practical knowledge of allergic pathology in newborns. Materials and methods: To develop the scale, seven family doctors, each with over 10 years of practical experience, reached a consensus on the 20 items. The items were based on the guidelines of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology on the prevention of food allergies in infants and young children. To verify the validity and internal structure of the scale, we conducted a pilot study on family doctors (N = 45), with a predominantly pediatric population, from one of the four university centers in Romania (Iași region). The results showed a good internal structure of the items in our scale. Content validity showed an I-CVI = 0.79 and an S-CVI = 0.91, which means that the scale can be considered excellent in terms of content. Discussion: The results of our study suggest that the new scale designed to assess the practical knowledge of family physicians in the field of allergic pathology in newborns, particularly with regard to cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA), has solid psychometric properties. The excellent content validity, indicated by an item content validity index (I-CVI) of 0.79 and a scale content validity index (S-CVI) of 0.91, reflects strong agreement among experts on the relevance and comprehensiveness of the items included. Conclusions: The designed scale demonstrates excellent content validity and good internal structure, indicating that it is a reliable tool for assessing the practical knowledge of family physicians in the field of allergic pathology in newborns. This scale can support the improvement of the identification and management of cow’s milk protein allergy in primary health care.