SummaryBackground Studies of children with food allergy typically only include the mother and have not investigated the relationship between the amount of allergen needed to elicit a clinical reaction (threshold) and health-related quality of life (HRQL). Our aims were (i) to compare self-reported and parent-reported HRQL in different age groups, (ii) to evaluate the impact of severity of allergic reaction and threshold on HRQL, and (iii) to investigate factors associated with patient-reported and parent-reported HRQL. Methods Age-appropriate Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaires (FAQLQ) were completed by 73 children, 49 adolescents and 29 adults with peanut, hazelnut or egg allergy. Parents (197 mothers, 120 fathers) assessed their child's HRQL using the FAQLQ-Parent form. Clinical data and threshold values were obtained from a hospital database. Significant factors for HRQL were investigated using univariate and multivariate regression. Results Female patients reported greater impact of food allergy on HRQL than males did. Egg and hazelnut thresholds did not affect HRQL, but lower peanut threshold was associated with worse HRQL. Both parents scored their child's HRQL better than the child's own assessment, but whereas mother-reported HRQL was significantly affected by limitations in the child's social life, father-reported HRQL was affected by limitations in the family's social life. Severity of allergic reaction did not contribute significantly to HRQL. Conclusion The risk of accidental allergen ingestion and limitations in social life are associated with worse HRQL. Fathers provide a unique perspective and should have a greater opportunity to contribute to food allergy research.

In the management of peanut allergy in adolescence, it is important to consider not only the smaller biological family unit (mothers, fathers and siblings) but to also take a wider perspective to include others such as stepfamily and friends.

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Young adults with peanut allergy face challenges when moving from the safe home with ready assistance if needed, to independence with unpredictable surroundings and less certain help. Perceived 'safe' situations may in fact be the riskiest, as patients often do not take the EAI with them.

Chronic eczematous hand dermatoses with and without contact allergies are complex diseases, which makes it a challenge to select the best treatment and obtain an optimal patient experience and a satisfactory treatment result. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the clinical effect and patient experience of local treatment with psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) soaks and TL01 phototherapy for severe chronic hand dermatoses, and also to evaluate the quality of life for the subgroup of patients with allergic contact dermatitis including Compositae allergy. A retrospective evaluation of results for 94 consecutive patients having received a total of 121 treatment courses with local PUVA soaks or TL01 phototherapy for one of the following diagnoses (n=number of treatment courses): psoriasis (n=19), hyperk-eratotic hand eczema (n=27), Pustulosis Palmoplantaris (PPP) (n=22), vesicular eczema (n=16), Compositae dermatitis (n=24), and allergic contact dermatitis (n=13). Moreover, semi-structured interviews with 6 selected patients having multiple contact allergies including Compositae allergy were used to evaluate quality of life. As a result, we found that PUVA soaks has good effect in patients with psoriasis and hyperkeratotic hand eczema and local phototherapy for chronic hand dermatoses is a useful treatment option in selected cases.