title: Quality-of-life in insect venom allergy: validation of the Turkish version of the "Vespid Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire" (VQLQ-T).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  "Vespid Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (VQLQ)" has been used to assess psychological burden of disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate validity, reliability and responsiveness to interventions of the Turkish version.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Turkish language Questionnaire (VQLQ-T) was administered to 81 patients with bee allergy and 65 patients with vespid allergy from different groups to achieve cross-sectional validation. To establish longitudinal validity, the questionnaire was administered to 36 patients treated with venom immunotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cross-sectional validation in patients with vespid venom allergy showed a correlation coefficient of 0.97 (Cronbach α). Spearman's correlation coefficient of the pretreatment VQLQ-T score with Expectation of Outcome (EoO) questionnaire score was 0.55 (p < 0.001). After treatment, correlation between VQLQ-T score and EoO score was 0.64 (p = 0.003) in these patients. The cross-sectional instrument validation for non-beekeepers with bee venom allergy yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.96 (Cronbach α). Spearman's correlation coefficient between pretreatment VQLQ-T score and EoO score was 0.47 (p < 0.001) and after treatment, correlation between VQLQ-T score and EoO score was 0.78 (p = 0.008) in these patients. These findings indicate cross-sectional validity of VQLQ-T. In the longitudinal validation, there was a positive correlation between EoO and VQLQ-T with a correlation coefficient of 0.562 (p < 0.001). While mean (±SD) VQLQ-T score was 5.27 (±1.29) in pretreatment, it was 2.78 (±1.01) after treatment (p < 0.001). The correlation between the mean change in VQLQ-T score and the mean change in EoO score was 0.42 (p = 0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Turkish version of VQLQ-T enables measurement of Quality of Life (QoL) in patients with either vespid or bee venom allergy. Furthermore, responsiveness of this instrument demonstrates the questionnaire's ability to detect changes over time.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Betül Ayşe
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Sin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Öztuna
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aslı
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gelincik
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Feridun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gürlek
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Gülhane Military Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baysan
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aytül Zerrin
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Sin
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ömür
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mısırlıgil
keywords: Honey bee; Quality of Life; Questionnaire; Venom allergy; Vespid