Abstract
Food allergy can have a significant impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Parental proxy questionnaires are commonly used when children are too young to complete questionnaires themselves. Little data are available on HRQoL in children with non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergy (GIFA). The aim of this study was to evaluate HRQoL in these children by parent proxy. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted with children aged 2-16 years with confirmed GIFA. Parents of these children completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™ ) and the family impact module of the PedsQL. The PedsQL scores were compared to two published cohorts: functional abdominal pain (FAP) and IgE-mediated food allergy. Fifty-two parents of children with GIFA completed the PedsQL™ parent proxy. The GIFA cohort had significantly better overall HRQoL compared with the FAP cohort, but lower emotional functioning scores. The GIFA cohort also had poorer physical QoL compared with the IgE cohort (all p < 0.05). The more foods excluded, comorbidity of nasal congestion, abdominal pain, back arching, the persistence of flatus and gastrointestinal symptom severity after elimination diet were related to poorer QoL in this non-IgE cohort. Regression analyses showed that number of foods and nasal congestion significantly predicted total QoL score as perceived by parents. This study has shown that different areas of HRQoL of children with GIFA are affected compared with children with FAP or IgE-mediated food allergy, highlighting the need for a specific GIFA HRQoL questionnaire to better understand the impact on these children.
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