1. Predictors of health-related quality of life of European food-allergic patients.
- Author
-
Saleh-Langenberg J, Goossens NJ, Flokstra-de Blok BM, Kollen BJ, van der Meulen GN, Le TM, Knulst AC, Jedrzejczak-Czechowicz M, Kowalski ML, Rokicka E, Starosta P, de la Hoz Caballer B, Vazquez-Cortés S, Cerecedo I, Barreales L, Asero R, Clausen M, DunnGalvin A, Hourihane JO, Purohit A, Papadopoulos NG, Fernandéz-Rivas M, Frewer L, Burney P, Duiverman EJ, and Dubois AE
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Anaphylaxis drug therapy, Anaphylaxis etiology, Child, Epinephrine therapeutic use, Europe, Female, Food Hypersensitivity complications, Food Hypersensitivity drug therapy, France, Greece, Humans, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Linear Models, Male, Middle Aged, Multivariate Analysis, Netherlands, Poland, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Spain, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sympathomimetics therapeutic use, Young Adult, Food Hypersensitivity psychology, Health Status, Quality of Life
- Abstract
Background: Although food allergy has universally been found to impair HRQL, studies have found significant differences in HRQL between countries, even when corrected for differences in perceived disease severity. However, little is known about factors other than disease severity which may contribute to HRQL in food-allergic patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify factors which may predict HRQL of food-allergic patients and also to investigate the specific impact of having experienced anaphylaxis and being prescribed an EAI on HRQL., Methods: A total of 648 European food-allergic patients (404 adults, 244 children) completed an age-specific questionnaire package including descriptive questions. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to develop models for predicting HRQL of these patients., Results: For adults, the prediction model accounted for 62% of the variance in HRQL and included perceived disease severity, type of symptoms, having a fish or milk allergy, and gender. For children, the prediction model accounted for 28% of the variance in HRQL and included perceived disease severity, having a peanut or soy allergy, and country of origin. For both adults and children, neither experiencing anaphylaxis nor being prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector (EAI) contributed to impairment of HRQL., Conclusions: In this study, food allergy-related HRQL may be predicted to a greater extent in adults than in children. Allergy to certain foods may cause greater HRQL impairment than others. Country of origin may affect HRQL, at least in children. Experiencing anaphylaxis or being prescribed an EAI has no impact on HRQL in either adults or children., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF