title: Two year effects of food allergen immunotherapy on quality of life in caregivers of children with food allergies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food allergy (FA) can have serious psychosocial and economic repercussions on food-allergic children and their caregivers and be associated with negative effects on their quality of life. Food allergen immunotherapy (IT) is a promising experimental therapy but can be linked to anxiety. This study investigated the effects of IT on FA-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) over a 24 month-follow-up in caregivers of children with single and multiple food allergies. We hypothesized that characteristics such as age, asthma at baseline and respiratory allergic reactions during therapy were key characteristics that influenced HRQL scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  A validated Food Allergy Quality of Life - Parental Burden Questionnaire (FAQL-PB) was used to assess HRQL. It was randomly distributed to and filled out by caregivers of 57 food-allergic children enrolled in clinical trials of IT. The same parent answered the FABQL-PB questionnaire at baseline and for 6-month, 12- month, 18- month, and 24-month time points on IT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregiver HRQL improved significantly (change < - 0.5, p <0.0001) at each follow-up time point compared to baseline. The percentages of caregivers with improvement in HRQL progressively increased (92% at 24 month-follow-up time point compared to baseline). HRQL improved more in caregivers of participants older than 10 years or desensitized to more than 4 food allergens than those who were not (p <0.0001). Caregivers of participants with pre-existing asthma or dose-related respiratory allergic reactions had less improvement in HRQL than those who did not (p <0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IT lead to improvement in caregiver HRQL. Certain characteristics were associated with greater improvements in caregiver HRQL.
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Stefania
authors: S
authors: Arasi
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Iris M
authors: IM
authors: Otani
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: Klingbeil
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Bégin
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Clare
authors: C
authors: Kearney
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Tina Lr
authors: TL
authors: Dominguez
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Whitney M
authors: WM
authors: Block
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Geraldine
authors: G
authors: O'Riordan
authors: Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, Palo Alto, CA USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology and Allergy, Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Building Suite 3215, Stanford, CA 94305 USA.
authors: Kari C
authors: KC
authors: Nadeau
keywords: Food allergen immunotherapy; Food allergy; Health-related quality of life; Quality of life