Abstract
Food hypersensitivity (FHS) refers to food-related symptoms, with or without concurrent Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies related to food(s). It remains unclear how different FHS phenotypes affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We examined self-reported HRQoL (with the generic instrument EQ-5D (dimensions and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), range 0–100) in association with phenotypes of FHS, and food-specific symptoms among adolescents (n = 2990) from a population-based birth cohort. Overall, 22% of the adolescents had FHS. Compared to adolescents without FHS, those with FHS reported more problems in the dimensions of pain/discomfort (p < 0.001), and anxiety/depression (p = 0.007). Females with FHS reported more problems than males in these dimensions (p < 0.001). Different FHS phenotypes (IgE-sensitization, allergic co-morbidity, and severity of symptoms) were not associated with differences in HRQoL. EQ-VAS scores were lowest for adolescents with symptoms for wheat vs. no wheat, median 80 vs. 89, p = 0.04) and milk vs. no milk (median 85 vs. 90, p = 0.03). Physician-diagnosed lactose intolerance median EQ-VAS was 80 vs. 90, p = 0.03 and also associated with more problems in the dimension of anxious/depression. In conclusion, FHS is associated with lower HRQoL in adolescence, irrespective of phenotypes, but differentially affects females vs. males, and those with vs. without symptoms for milk or wheat.
Highlights
Information about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in relation to background characteristics showed that females had significantly lower HRQoL compared to males (p < 0.001) in the dimensions—pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression; and in the EQ-VAS scale
Our study extends the findings from these previous reports, by providing evidence that the level of impairment in HRQoL was comparable between adolescents with Food hypersensitivity (FHS), regardless of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization
Females with FHS had a lower HRQoL compared to males with
Summary
FHS is common, with a noted increase in prevalence in recent decades [4,5]. The prevalence of FHS was higher among females compared to males (24% vs 19%, p = 0.004). When comparing those with vs without FHS in relation to prevalence of dispensed antianxiety drugs, and/or antidepressant drugs and/or migraine drugs, there were no significant differences (i.e., 3.3% vs 3.5%, p = 0.71). The majority of adolescents with or without FHS reported no problems in the EQ-5D dimensions (Table 1). Adolescents with FHS reported significantly more problems in the dimensions usual activities (4.92% vs 3.25%, p = 0.04), pain or discomfort A significant association was presented in the dimension pain/discomfort
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