Quality of Life Among Food Allergic Patients and Their Caregivers

Abstract

Food allergy is increasing in prevalence worldwide. This review summarizes progress made studying relationships between food allergy and quality of life (QOL), with an emphasis on recent work in the field. Early work examining QOL among food allergy patients established that stress and anxiety associated with continuous allergen avoidance and the looming threat of anaphylaxis were associated with significantly impaired food allergy quality of life (FAQOL) for children with food allergy and their caregivers. Recent clinical studies suggest that undergoing oral food challenge to confirm food allergy and oral immunotherapy to treat food allergy may each improve FAQOL among both patients and their caregivers. Other intervention modalities, such as nurse-facilitated counseling and educational workshops, also hold promise, but additional work is needed. Future work must strive to recruit more representative, population-based samples, including adult patients, in order to improve the generalizability and clinical relevance of findings.

Parents’ and caregivers’ experiences and behaviours when eating out with children with a food hypersensitivity

“…Supporting practical ‘FH inclusive’ strategies can limit accidental food allergen exposure, whilst avoiding the feelings of alienation reported by many children with FH [23, 24]. For these children, such strategies could bolster their quality of life in circumstances where this might otherwise be compromised as a result of the stress and anxiety associated with the daily management of the condition [25]. …”

Prevalence and Severity of Food Allergies Among US Adults

“…In light of the considerable economic 1 and quality of life 3 consequences associated with allergen avoidance and other food allergy management behaviors, individuals with a suspected food allergy should receive appropriate confirmatory testing and counseling to counter unnecessary avoidance of allergenic food. Greater patient education efforts regarding key differences between food intolerances and allergies also may be warranted.…”

A Mouse Model of Anaphylaxis and Atopic Dermatitis to Salt-Soluble Wheat Protein Extract

“…A wheat-free diet is the only recommended treatment for wheat allergy at present, thus necessitating millions of wheat-sensitive consumers around the world to avoid wheat for life [1,2,6]. This has resulted in major negative impacts on the wheat industry and on the quality of life of wheat-sensitive consumers and their families [1,2,3,7]. As a result, the economic impact of the health issues related to wheat on the global wheat industry is expected to grow at an unprecedented rate [3,4,5].…”

“…mediated by IgE antibodies; (ii) it causes non-IgE or cell-mediated reactions (e.g., eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophilic gastritis); (iii) it also triggers autoimmune diseases associated with autoantibody production and autoreactive T cell responses (celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis); (iv) it is linked to neuroimmune reactions (e.g., gluten ataxia), and (v) more recently, it is linked to a new disease known as non-celiac gluten sensitivity [1,2,3,6,7,8,9]. …”