3.4. Limitations and Strengths of This Study
allergy, breast milk, CMPA
ALLERGY
Certain limitations must be considered in our study. First, the number of infants included in the final analysis may not be enough to draw firm conclusions. In this respect, although CMPA incidence is lower in the pHF compared to the SF group, differences did not reach statistical significance. Moreover, breastmilk intake is estimated using an equation, in which the expected breastmilk intake per kg of body weight (BW) is calculated based on the age of the infant. Therefore, in the absence of data concerning the exact given amount of breast milk per kg of BW in each participant of the three different feeding patterns, this method is only a crude estimation of breast milk intake, that may be subjected to biased correlations. Nevertheless, the double-blinded randomized controlled design of the study, the assessment of allergy and anthropometric outcomes in infants by specialized well-trained study members, the objectively confirmed CMPA symptoms, and the statistical analysis performed by a third independent collaborator are important strengths of the present study.