Patient quality of life following induction of oral immunotherapy for food allergy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Patient quality of life improves following successful completion of oral immunotherapy (OIT) but the process itself might have un-desirable effects. We aimed to evaluate patient quality of life following OIT initial induction.
METHODS:
The Hebrew version of the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ-PF) was validated, and administered to the parents of children following the first week of OIT for food allergy (n=119). Patient demographics and clinical history as well as the course of initial induction week were reviewed.
RESULTS:
Pre-OIT severity, defined by reaction history after accidental exposures to the allergenic food (anaphylactic reactions, p=0.017; epinephrine use, p=0.049; emergency room referrals p=0.003; and hospital admissions, p=0.015) due to accidental exposures to the allergenic food, and a lower number of tolerated doses during initial induction, reflective of a lower maximal tolerated dose for the different allergens (p=0.011) were associated with worse total FAQLQ-PF scores. The number of tolerated doses during induction and emergency room referrals remained significantly associated with worse total score of the FAQLQ-PF on multi-variate analysis (p=0.016 and p=0.005, respectively). The correlation between the number of tolerated doses and quality of life scores was moderate-strong primarily in children aged 6-12 years (Total score, r=-0.41, p=0.001; Emotional Impact r=-0.42, p=0.001; Food Anxiety, r=-0.38, p=0.002; Social and Dietary Limitations, r=-0.33, p=0.009).
CONCLUSIONS:
Pre-OIT reaction severity affect quality of life in both pre-school and school-aged food allergic children. In contrast, a lower maximal tolerated dose during on OIT-induction is associated with worse indices of quality of life primarily in children aged 6-12 years. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Anaphylaxis; Food allergy; Induction; Oral immunotherapy
LINK TO: Patient quality of life following induction of oral immunotherapy for food allergy. PediatrAllergy Immunol. 2015 Dec 17.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26681071