Auto-injector needle length may be inadequate to deliver epinephrine intramuscularly in women with confirmed food allergy

Table 2 Baseline characteristics of females in the study

Characteristic	Total, n = 69	Patients with STMD minimum		P value*	Patients with STMD maximum		P value*
		≤15.2 mm, n = 37	>15.2 mm, n = 32		≤15.2 mm, n = 50	>15.2 mm, n = 19
Age (years), mean (SD)	37 (13)	33 (12)	41 (13)	0.009	35 (12)	43 (14)	0.03
Caucasian, n (%)	61 (88)	31 (82)	30 (94)	0.27	43 (86)	18 (95)	0.29
Weight (kg), mean (SD)	73 (17)	64 (12)	83 (18)	0.001	67 (12)	89 (19)	0.001
Height (m), mean (SD)	1.6 (0.1)	1.62 (0.1)	1.64 (0.1)	0.16	1.63 (0.1)	1.64 (0.1)	0.71
BMI (kg/m²), mean (SD)	27 (7)	24 (4)	31 (7)	0.0001	25 (4)	33 (8)	0.001
STMD max (mm), mean (SD)	13 (5)	10 (2)	17 (4)	0.0001	11 (3)	20 (4)	0.0001
STMD min (mm), mean (SD)	16 (7)	11 (2)	21 (6)	0.0001	13 (4)	23 (7)	0.0001
STMD% compression, mean (SD)	16 (11)	14 (11)	18 (10)	0.11	16 (11)	15 (9)	0.53

*P-value calculated by Student’s t test or Chi square test/Fisher’s exact test.
SD: standard deviation; BMI: body mass index; STMD_min: skin-to-muscle depth with minimal pressure; STMD_max: skin-to-muscle depth with maximal pressure.

ISSN: 1710-1492