Background: Food allergy in children, an increasingly prevalent
disease, significantly affects the quality of life. Its impact can be
analyzed by the recently validated French version of the Food Allergy
Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ).
Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality of life in
a small sample of Swiss children with IgE-mediated food allergy.
Methods: Information were collected with the questionnaire among
0-12 years old children and their parents during a scheduled allergy
visit, and analysed in term of emotional impact, food anxiety and social
and food limitations. Patients were divided according to the
questionnaire in three age groups: group 1 from 0 to 3 years, group 2
from 4 to 6 years and group 3 from 7 up to 12 years.
Results: 30 food allergic patients were included, with a girl/boy ratio of
1:1.14. Median age was 6 years. 56% suffered from or had a history of
eczema, 23% of rhino-conjunctivitis, 30% of asthma, and 13%
reported a drug allergy. None had insect venom allergy. 57% were
known to be allergic to one food, 20% to two foods, 20% to 3 foods
and 3% had 3 or more food allergies. Tree nuts (51% of all allergies)
as well as eggs (28 %) were the major allergies. Emotional impact had
a total score of 1.54 but showed differences between age groups. In
group 1 it was lower with 0.23, in group 2 the score was 2.03 and 1.77
in group 3. Food anxiety total score was 1.9; 0.76 in group 1, 2.31 in
group 2 and 2.23 in group 3. Social and food limitations showed similar
results with a total score of 1.73 and 1.23 in group 1, 2.05 in group 2
and 1.68 for group 3.
Conclusion: Food allergy affects the quality of life of Swiss children.
Our preliminary results on a small sample are comparable to
previously published data. We show that the impact of food allergy on
daily life increases when the child starts school and social activities.