Participant Information Sheet

Study Title: Is the Hygiene Hypothesis still reliable?

Dear Sir/Madam You are being invited to take part in a research study that seeks to determine the reliability of the Hygiene Hypothesis in modern times as opposed to when it was developed in the nineteenth century. Explanation of the Hypothesis may help you to decide whether or not you would like to proceed in taking part in this study. Please take care to read these notes before taking part, and do not lose them as further reference to them may be needed whilst filling out the questionnaire. If anything is not explained properly throughout this leaflet please do not hesitate to contact the study team using the contact details stated below. It is important to note that you DO NOT have to be allergic to anything to take part in this investigation; your information is just as helpful if you are not. Before you decide whether or not to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully. What is the Purpose of the study? Individuals suffering from various allergies are prevalent globally. There are various theories that suggest why these ungrounded responses to certain environmental factors happen. One of these is known as the Hygiene Hypothesis. This hypothesis was first stated by a scientist named Strachan and says that due to Western civilisation becoming more hygienic in the recent years, children have been less exposed to infectious diseases. This has been shown by various studies to have a direct link with an increase in allergy sufferers. The investigation will hopefully uncover more information as to why these reactions occur in some individuals. Why have I been invited to participate? We are inviting adults aged between 18-87, with or without any allergies to assist in exploring the current validity of the Hygiene Hypothesis. You may have responded to information on a social media site or heard of this study via contacts and have expressed an interest in the possibility of participation. This project is being run at Oxford Brookes University, as part of the projects and dissertation module, which is designed so that students can do brand new research, collecting novel data on a specific topic they have chosen. The investigation, as stated earlier, aims to determine whether or not the hygiene hypothesis is still noteworthy. Regardless of whether or not you are actually allergic to something, your information will still help in determining whether this hypothesis is still valid, as lifestyles of both allergy sufferers and non-allergy sufferers when growing up need to be compared. The only criteria for taking part in the investigation are that; You consent to taking part.

You are able to remember or know details from the first five years of your childhood.

As long as all participants fulfil these criteria there is no other reason for people not to take part, everyones information will be just as useful and appreciated. Do I have to take part? No, your participation is completely voluntary and you are free to withdraw at any time. However, once you have submitted the questionnaire online, it will not be possible to withdraw your data as it will not be possible to identify you What will happen to me if I take part? Should you agree to participate in this study, we would like you to fill out a very simple questionnaire; that will take no longer than 10 minutes. You will find a link to the questionnaire at the bottom of this document. The questions asked include things such as where you grew up and any allergies that you may or may not have. What are the possible benefits of taking part? There will be no direct benefit to you as a participant but the results generated from the study could give further insight into the cause of allergy. What will happen to the information/results collected in the project? The details of all participating individuals will be kept anonymous and all information will be kept confidential. What happens if I do not want to take part in the project? Participation is completely voluntary and no details will be recorded for monitoring purposes. Please find contact details below for the study team in regards to any queries; Emma Karslake; emma.allergies@thekarslakes.net

Type of study This is a student dissertation study taken as part of a BSc degree in Human Biology. Members of the study are; Emma Karslake Under the supervision of; Ross Sadler Ethical Approval and funding This study has been approved by the Oxford Brookes University Departmental Research Ethics Officer on behalf of the Faculty Ethics Committee. If you have any concerns about how this study has been conducted you can contact Dr Dido Green, Departmental Research Ethics Officer on dido.green@brookes.ac.uk Contact details Emma Karslake; emma.allergies@thekarslakes.net Ross Sadler; rsadler@brookes.ac.uk Questionnaire Web Link; https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HJ3JQRR Thank you for your help