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Quality of Life Among Food Allergic Patients and Their Caregivers

Current Allergy and Asthma Reports volume 16, Article number: 38 (2016) Cite this article

Abstract

Food allergy is increasing in prevalence worldwide. This review summarizes progress made studying relationships between food allergy and quality of life (QOL), with an emphasis on recent work in the field. Early work examining QOL among food allergy patients established that stress and anxiety associated with continuous allergen avoidance and the looming threat of anaphylaxis were associated with significantly impaired food allergy quality of life (FAQOL) for children with food allergy and their caregivers. Recent clinical studies suggest that undergoing oral food challenge to confirm food allergy and oral immunotherapy to treat food allergy may each improve FAQOL among both patients and their caregivers. Other intervention modalities, such as nurse-facilitated counseling and educational workshops, also hold promise, but additional work is needed. Future work must strive to recruit more representative, population-based samples, including adult patients, in order to improve the generalizability and clinical relevance of findings.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

FAIM:

Food Allergy Independent Measure

FAQLQ:

Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire

FAQLQ-AF:

Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire—Adult Form

FAQLQ-CF:

Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire—Child Form

FAQLQ-PF:

Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire—Parent Form

FAQLQ-TF:

Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire—Teen Form

FAQOL:

Food Allergy-related Quality of Life

FAQOL-PB:

Food Allergy-related Quality of Life—Parental Burden Questionnaire

HQOL:

Health-related Quality of Life

QOL:

Quality of Life

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 750 N Lake Shore Dr. 6th Floor, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Christopher M. Warren & Ruchi S. Gupta

  2. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Box 86, 225 E, Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Alana K. Otto

  3. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Box 157, 225 E, Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Madeline M. Walkner

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  1. Christopher M. Warren
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Correspondence to Ruchi S. Gupta.

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Drs. Warren, Otto, Walkner, and Gupta declare no conflicts of interest.

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Warren, C.M., Otto, A.K., Walkner, M.M. et al. Quality of Life Among Food Allergic Patients and Their Caregivers. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 16, 38 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-016-0614-9

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Keywords

  • Food allergy
  • Quality of life
  • Pediatrics
  • Food hypersensitivity
  • Anaphylaxis