Quality of Life, Stress, and Mental Health in Parents of Children with Parentally Diagnosed Food Allergy Compared to Medically Diagnosed and Healthy Controls.

Rebecca Knibb,Richard Cooke,Gurkiran Birdi

doi:10.1155/2016/1497375

Abstract

Background. Food allergy is related to poorer quality of life (QoL) and mental health of caregivers. Many parents diagnose food allergy in their child without seeking medical care and there is limited research on this group. This study investigated parental QoL and mental health in parents of children with parent-diagnosed food allergy (PA), medically diagnosed food allergy (MA), and a control group with no allergy (NA). Methods. One hundred and fifty parents from a general population completed validated measures of QoL, anxiety, depression, and stress. Results. Parents of children with food allergy (PA or MA) reported higher stress, anxiety, and depression than the control group (all p < 0.05). Parents of children with MA reported poorer food allergy related QoL compared to parents of children with PA (p < 0.05); parents of children with PA reported poorer general QoL compared to parents of children with MA (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Parents of children with food allergy have significantly poorer mental health compared to healthy controls, irrespective of whether food allergy is medically diagnosed or not. It is important to encourage parents to have their child medically tested for food allergy and to recognise and refer for psychological support where needed.

Highlights

Food allergy is an immunological reaction to the protein in food which causes rapid symptoms such as swelling and tingling of lips and tongue, rash, vomiting, and in some cases breathing difficulty and anaphylactic shock [1]
Research on food allergy demonstrates that those caring for children with food allergies report a poorer quality of life for themselves and their children compared to both healthy controls and children with other long-term conditions [5,6,7,8]
A total of 7 parents stated that their child had only intolerance to milk or egg rather than an allergy; 6 of these had been diagnosed by a doctor, and one had been diagnosed by a homeopath

Summary

Introduction

Food allergy is an immunological reaction to the protein in food which causes rapid symptoms such as swelling and tingling of lips and tongue, rash, vomiting, and in some cases breathing difficulty and anaphylactic shock [1]. Research on food allergy demonstrates that those caring for children with food allergies report a poorer quality of life for themselves and their children compared to both healthy controls and children with other long-term conditions [5,6,7,8]. Food allergy is related to poorer quality of life (QoL) and mental health of caregivers. This study investigated parental QoL and mental health in parents of children with parent-diagnosed food allergy (PA), medically diagnosed food allergy (MA), and a control group with no allergy (NA). Parents of children with food allergy (PA or MA) reported higher stress, anxiety, and depression than the control group (all p < 0.05). Parents of children with food allergy have significantly poorer mental health compared to healthy controls, irrespective of whether food allergy is medically diagnosed or not. It is important to encourage parents to have their child medically tested for food allergy and to recognise and refer for psychological support where needed

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion