Pediatric food allergy-related household costs are influenced by age, but not disease severity

Objective: The economic burden of food allergy on households is poorly understood. We evaluated the household costs associated with specialist-diagnosed pediatric food allergy, with focus on age and disease severity. Study design: A cross-sectional study of 70 Swedish case-control pairs (59% boys) was conducted using Food Allergy Economic questionnaire. Household costs were analyzed between age- and gender-matched cases (children aged 0–17 years, with specialist-diagnosed food allergy) and controls (non-food allergic households). Results: Parents were predominantly university-educated and employed full-time. Most cases had parent-reported previous anaphylaxis. Mean total annual household costs were comparable between cases and controls. However, compared to controls, cases had significantly higher direct medical-, and non-medical related costs; higher indirect medical-related costs, and higher intangible costs (all p