To cite this article: Cummings AJ, Knibb RC, King RM, Lucas JS. The psychosocial impact of food allergy and food hypersensitivity in children, adolescents and their families: a review. Allergy 2010; 65: 933-945.Food allergy is an increasing problem in adults and children. The incidence has increased dramatically in recent years, with a possible doubling in the incidence of peanut allergy over 4 years (1). The severity of allergic disease also appears to be increasing as demonstrated by doubling of hospitalization for anaphylaxis over a 5-year period (2). A number of severe, life-threatening allergies that were once rare are now increasingly common, such as kiwifruit allergy in young children (3).There is no cure or preventative treatment for food allergy at present. Therefore, management is restricted to avoidance of the implicated food via elimination diets and emergency treatment of symptoms caused by accidental ingestion, with the aid of treatment plans, which aim to reduce morbidity, mortality and improve quality of life (QoL). Morbidity is low and mortality exceedingly rare in those suffering from food allergy (4). However, the impact of food allergy on aspects of daily living and QoL, as well as emotional states such as anxiety and depression, has been shown to impact adversely on the child and family. These studies have varied in their sample characteristics, in the age of participants investigated and in the instruments used, which have included a mixture of nonvalidated and validated generic health and food allergy-specific scales (Table 1). This review examines what is currently known about the psychosocial impact of food allergy and hypersensitivity on children and their families and explores the implications of this for health and management of food hypersensitivity, whilst highlighting further avenues of research.The following databases were searched for studies published in English from 1990 to 2009: PubMed, Medline, PsycInfo, Cinahl and Web of Science. The following search terms were used: food allergy, food hypersensitivity, food intolerance, adverse food reaction, exclusion diet, elimination diet, quality of life, well-being, daily activities, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, allergic reactions, anaphylactic reactions and gender. Articles were examined by all authors of this review for relevance. The term food hypersensitivity in this review is used to refer to allergic and nonallergic hypersensitivity and food intolerance. Food allergy is only used to AbstractFood allergy affects 6% of children but there is no cure, and strict avoidance of index allergens along with immediate access to rescue medication is the current best management. With specialist care, morbidity from food allergy in children is generally low, and mortality is very rare. However, there is strong evidence that food allergy and food hypersensitivity has an impact on psychological distress and on the quality of life (QoL) of children and adolescents, as well as their families. Until recently, the measurement of QoL...

Children with a peanut allergy (PA) are faced with food and social restrictions due to the potentially life-threatening nature of their disease, for which there is no cure or treatment. This inevitably impacts upon their quality of life (QoL). QoL of 20 children with PA and 20 children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was measured using two disease-specific QoL questionnaires (higher scores correspond to a poorer QoL). One questionnaire was designed by us and the other was adapted from the Vespid Allergy QoL questionnaire. We gave subjects cameras to record how their QoL is affected over a 24-h period. Response rates for both questionnaires were 100%. Mean ages were 9.0 and 10.4 years for PA and IDDM subjects, respectively. Children with a PA reported a poorer quality of life than children with IDDM: mean scores were 54.85 for PA subjects and 46.40 for diabetics (p = 0.004) in questionnaire 1 and 54.30 and 34.50 (p

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A significant number of teenagers demonstrate risk-taking behaviour in the management of their food allergies. Teenagers also felt it would be helpful for their peers to be educated about food allergy. This novel strategy might help them to avoid trigger foods and enable teenagers to access help more readily if they suffer a reaction.

Introduction It is now increasingly recognized that sexual health is important to overall good health and well-being. Aim The Global Better Sex Survey (GBSS) explored the sexual aspirations and unmet needs of men and women worldwide. Main Outcome Measures Participant responses to survey questions. Methods Data were collected during 2005 in 27 countries by phone, door-to-door, and street-intercept interview. Data were weighted by demographic characteristics to accurately reflect the general population of each country. Results Of the 12,563 respondents (men=6,291, women=6,272), 46% of men and 48% of women were younger than 40 years, 41% were 40–59 years, and 11% were 60 years or older. Nearly all men (91%) and women (94%) were married, living with a partner, or in a relationship. All aspects of sex (intercourse, foreplay, orgasm, attraction to partner) were important to men and women. Nearly half (48%) of men surveyed reported some degree of erectile dysfunction (ED). A significant proportion of men (65%) were not very satisfied with their erection hardness (63% of women were not very satisfied with their partner's erection hardness). An association existed between satisfaction with erection hardness and satisfaction with sex life, love and romance, and overall health. Only 7% of men reported using a prescription medication for ED. However, 74% of men were willing to take medication to improve their erections if they thought they had ED; 64% of women would support such a decision. Conclusions The GBSS reports the sexual needs and desires of men and women worldwide. Erectile function and the effect of ED on aspects of the sexual experience emerged as the most pressing concerns among male participants.