Development and validation of the self-administered Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire for adolescents

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2008.05.008

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Volume 122, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 139-144.e2

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2008.05.008 Get rights and content

Background

Food allergy can affect health-related quality of life (HRQL). Currently, no validated, self-administered, disease-specific HRQL questionnaire for adolescents with food allergy exists.

Objective

We sought to develop and validate the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire–Teenager Form (FAQLQ-TF) in the Dutch language.

Methods

Ten adolescents (13-17 years) with food allergy were interviewed and generated 166 HRQL items. The most important items were identified by 51 adolescents with food allergy by using the clinical impact method, resulting in the FAQLQ-TF containing 28 items (score range: 1 “no impairment” to 7 “maximal impairment”). The FAQLQ-TF, the Food Allergy Independent Measure, and a generic HRQL questionnaire (CHQ-CF87) were sent to 98 adolescents with food allergy for cross-sectional validation of the FAQLQ-TF.

Results

Construct validity was assessed based on the correlation between the FAQLQ-TF and the Food Allergy Independent Measure (ρ = 0.57, P < .001). The FAQLQ-TF had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α = .92) and discriminated between adolescents who differed in number of food allergies (1 vs >2 food allergies: total FAQLQ-TF score, 4.3 vs 3.5; P = 0.037) but did not discriminate between those who did or did not have reported anaphylaxis. The FAQLQ-TF correlated weakly with 6 of the 11 CHQ-CF87 scales, demonstrating convergent/discriminant validity.

Conclusion

The FAQLQ-TF is the first self-administered, disease-specific HRQL questionnaire for adolescents with food allergy. It has good construct validity and excellent internal consistency and discriminates between adolescents who differ in the number of food allergies. The FAQLQ-TF is short and easy to use and might therefore be a useful tool in clinical research.

Section snippets

Participants and procedures

During item generation, participants were recruited only from our outpatient pediatric allergy clinic. Two adolescents were approached during a double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), and based on patient records, 8 adolescents were approached by telephone. All approached adolescents (n = 10) agreed to participate in an interview on the effect of food allergy on their daily lives.

During item reduction and cross-sectional validation, participants were recruited from our

Development

Descriptive characteristics of the adolescents involved in the item generation and item reduction are shown in Table I. The extended item questionnaire was returned by 46 adolescents (response rate, 90%). The OI scores of all 166 items of the extended item questionnaire ranged from 0.00 to 2.89. The item reduction resulted in the selection of 28 items (OI ≥1.37) for the FAQLQ-TF (Table II).

Participants

The questionnaire package, including the FAQLQ-TF, the FAIM, and the CHQ-CF87, were returned by 75

Discussion

We have developed and validated the first HRQL questionnaire specific for adolescents with food allergy: the FAQLQ-TF. We found that the FAQLQ-TF has good construct validity and excellent internal consistency (Table III). In addition, the FAQLQ-TF discriminates between adolescents who differ in the number of food allergies. Finally, the FAQLQ-TF showed convergent/discriminant validity (Table IV), which supports the need for a disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire for adolescents with

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: Supported by the European Union through the EuroPrevall project (FOOD-CT-2005-514000).

: Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: B. M. J. Flokstra-de Blok has received research support from the European Union (EU). A. DunnGalvin has received research support from EU Leonardo da Vinci. B. J. Vlieg-Boerstra has received research support from EuroPrevall. J. N. G. Oude Elberink has received research support from HAL Allergy. J. O'B. Hourihane is on the speakers' bureau for Novartis, Numico, and Monarini; has received research support from the European Commission, the Irish Lung Foundation, and Numico plc; has served as an expert witness in immunodeficiency litigation; has served as a member of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Clemens von Piquet Foundation; and has received travel support from Menarini, Diagnostic Products Corporation, and Merck Sharp Dohme. A. E. J. Dubois has received research support from ALK-Abelló, Mead Johnson, and Union Chémique Belge. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

View full text

Food, drug, insect sting allergy, and anaphylaxisDevelopment and validation of the self-administered Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire for adolescents

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Section snippets

Participants and procedures

Development

Participants

Discussion

J Allergy Clin Immunol

J Allergy Clin Immunol

J Allergy Clin Immunol

Lancet

J Allergy Clin Immunol

Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol

J Allergy Clin Immunol

Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol

Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol

J Clin Epidemiol

J Clin Epidemiol

J Allergy Clin Immunol

J Clin Epidemiol

J Allergy Clin Immunol

Behav Res Ther

Fatal and near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to food in children and adolescents

N Engl J Med

Berge Henegouwen GP. School and leisure activities in adolescents and young adults with chronic digestive disorders: impact of burden of disease

Int J Behav Med

Health-related quality of life in food hypersensitive schoolchildren and their families: parents' perceptions

Health Qual Life Outcomes

Food, drug, insect sting allergy, and anaphylaxis
Development and validation of the self-administered Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire for adolescents