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Background: The prevalence of self‐experienced adverse reactions to foods seems to have an increasing trend in both adults and children. However, it is unclear if the prevalence of food hypersensitivity in the Swedish adult population is still rising, what symptoms are caused by different foods and which are the most common foods to which adults are more frequently IgE‐sensitised. Methods: In a cross‐sectional study based on questionnaire responses, interviews and clinical examinations as part of the West Sweden Asthma Study, 1042 subjects from the general population, 17–78 years of age, living in Västra Götaland, Sweden, were included. The subjects reported symptoms for 56 specified foods and blood samples were taken to examine the IgE‐sensitisation pattern for 9 common foods. Results: Approximately 32% of adults reported food hypersensitivity, affecting mostly women and subjects less than 61 years old. The foods most often reported to cause adverse reactions were hazelnut (8.9%), apple (8.4%), milk (7.4%) and kiwi (7.3%). Less than one percent (0.9%) reported symptoms from ingestion of meat. Symptoms mostly affected the gastrointestinal tract (15%) and the skin (2.7%). Sixteen per cent were IgE‐sensitised to common foods, most often to hazelnut (13.3%), peanut (4.9%) and almond (3.0%), while 5.9% reported symptoms and were IgE‐sensitised to the same food, mainly to hazelnut (5.3%). Conclusions: The prevalence of self‐reported food hypersensitivity in West Sweden indicates a rising trend. The correspondence between self‐reported symptoms and IgE‐sensitisation to foods is generally poor, except for hazelnut and almond which exhibit moderate or fair correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While Health Related Quality of Life has been investigated among children with IgE‐mediated food allergy, less is known about quality of life among children with other types of hypersensitivity to food. The aim of this study was to investigate Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in children with and without food hypersensitivity. Further, we compared HRQL between children with different phenotypes of food hypersensitivity. Methods: In a large population‐based cohort of schoolchildren in Northern Sweden, the parents of 2612 (96% of invited) completed a questionnaire. All 125 (5%) children who reported complete elimination of milk, egg, fish or wheat due to food hypersensitivity were invited to a clinical examination and 94 children participated. Of these, 75 children also completed a generic (KIDSCREEN‐52) and a disease‐specific HRQL questionnaire (FAQLQ‐TF). Thereafter, these children were categorised into the different phenotypes: current food allergy, outgrown food allergy, and lactose intolerance. Additionally, 209 children with unrestricted diets answered the generic questionnaire. Results: The median score of all KIDSCREEN‐52 domains were above the population norm of 50 both in children with and without food hypersensitivity. No significant differences in distribution in generic or disease‐specific HRQL were found between children with or without food hypersensitivity. There were no significant differences in HRQL between children with different phenotypes of food hypersensitivity. However, children with current food allergy tended to have the lowest HRQL. Further, poor HRQL defined as ≥75th percentile for the disease specific score was significantly more common in the current food allergy phenotype in the domain Emotional impact and the total FAQLQ, compared to the other phenotypes. Conclusions: In this population‐based study, 12–13 year old children reported good HRQL regardless of having food hypersensitivity or not. However, the children with the current phenotype reported lower HRQL than the other phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the properties and suitability of a disease-specific questionnaire to assess parent-reported health-related quality of life (HRQL) of children and parents of children suffering from food hypersensitivity (FHS) or allergy to furred pets (AFP). Methods: The parents of 202 children with FHS and of 131 children with AFP filled in questionnaires comprising the CHQ-PF28 and the Food-Pet-Allergy in Children (FPAC) Questionnaire. Psychometric properties of the FPAC questionnaire were evaluated separately for FHS and AFP. Results: Analyses resulted in five proposed scales: Limitations of Family/Child Activities (I), Parents' Distress (II), Child's Emotions (III), Child in School (IV) and Family Conflicts (V). Convergent/discriminant validity for scales I, II and III of both questionnaires was high; for scale IV it was moderate. All five FHS and four AFP scales were able to distinguish significantly between children with and without clinical allergy symptoms (known-group validity). Internal consistency reliability was good for scales I, II and III, but poor for scale IV. Conclusion: Three valid scales were determined for both FHS and AFP (Limitations of Family/Child Activities, Parents' Distress and Child's Emotions) and can be used in clinical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of self-experienced adverse reactions to foods seems to have an increasing trend in both adults and children. However, it is unclear if the prevalence of food hypersensitivity in the Swedish adult population is still rising, what symptoms are caused by different foods and which are the most common foods to which adults are more frequently IgE-sensitised. Methods: In a cross-sectional study based on questionnaire responses, interviews and clinical examinations as part of the West Sweden Asthma Study, 1042 subjects from the general population, 17–78 years of age, living in Västra Götaland, Sweden, were included. The subjects reported symptoms for 56 specified foods and blood samples were taken to examine the IgE-sensitisation pattern for 9 common foods. Results: Approximately 32% of adults reported food hypersensitivity, affecting mostly women and subjects less than 61 years old. The foods most often reported to cause adverse reactions were hazelnut (8.9%), apple (8.4%), milk (7.4%) and kiwi (7.3%). Less than one percent (0.9%) reported symptoms from ingestion of meat. Symptoms mostly affected the gastrointestinal tract (15%) and the skin (2.7%). Sixteen per cent were IgE-sensitised to common foods, most often to hazelnut (13.3%), peanut (4.9%) and almond (3.0%), while 5.9% reported symptoms and were IgE-sensitised to the same food, mainly to hazelnut (5.3%). Conclusions: The prevalence of self-reported food hypersensitivity in West Sweden indicates a rising trend. The correspondence between self-reported symptoms and IgE-sensitisation to foods is generally poor, except for hazelnut and almond which exhibit moderate or fair correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Among Swedish children of 0-12 years old, we investigated various food allergy-related exposures associated with health-related quality of life using a food allergy-specific questionnaire among children allergic to the staple foods cow's milk, hen's egg and/or wheat, and contextualised worse food allergy-associated health-related quality of life using a generic questionnaire versus controls., Methods: In total, 85 children with objectively diagnosed allergy to the staple foods were included as cases, and 94 children matched for age and sex were included as controls. We administered a food allergy-specific parent-completed questionnaire originally developed by EuroPrevall to cases only, and a generic health-related quality of life questionnaire (EuroQol Health Questionnaire, 5 Dimensions; EQ 5-D); to both cases and controls., Results: Hen's egg was the most common offending staple food, affecting 76% of cases. Approximately 7% of cases were allergic to all three staple foods. Parent-reported respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms were associated with worse health-related quality of life. Elements of disease severity [previous anaphylaxis (p < 0.001); epinephrine autoinjector prescription (p < 0.003)] were negatively associated with health-related quality of life. Cases had worse health-related quality of life measured by the EQ-5D compared to controls (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: The use of a disease-specific questionnaire revealed that disease severity in children with objectively diagnosed allergy to the staple foods cow's milk, hen's egg and/or wheat is associated with worse health-related quality of life. The use of a generic questionnaire confirmed that cases have worse health-related quality of life than controls., (©2015 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aim: This study examined the prevalence, symptom expression and risk factors for food hypersensitivity among Swedish schoolchildren., Methods: Parents of 2585 (96% of invited) children aged 7-8 years completed a questionnaire regarding food hypersensitivity and allergic diseases. A random sample of 1700 children (90% of invited) also participated in skin prick testing with ten airborne allergens., Results: The overall prevalence of reported food hypersensitivity to milk, egg, fish, wheat, soya, fruits and, or, nuts was 21%, with symptoms caused by milk (9%) being the most common. The most frequently reported symptoms were oral symptoms (47.4%), mainly caused by fruit, and gastrointestinal symptoms (45.7%), mainly caused by milk. Factors associated with any food hypersensitivity were female sex, allergic heredity and a positive skin prick test. Eczema was consistently associated with symptoms caused by milk, egg, fish, wheat, soya, fruits and nuts. Rhinitis was associated to the same foods, except milk., Conclusion: Reported food hypersensitivity was common among Swedish schoolchildren. The most frequent symptom expressions were oral symptoms triggered by fruits and gastrointestinal symptoms triggered by milk. The high prevalence of reported symptoms should be validated by clinical examinations to provide a diagnosis., (©2014 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Elimination of the offending food(s) is the usual treatment when a child suffers from food hypersensitivity. This treatment can impair everyday life in families with affected children. Instruments to assess these impairments generated from families attending primary care and in comparison to families with children without food hypersensitivity are scarce. The aim of this study is to develop and test a method to assess food hypersensitivity's impact on everyday life on affected families., Methods: The Food hypersensitivity famiLy ImPact (FLIP) questionnaire was developed and validated on parents of children (0.5-7 years) with cow's milk protein hypersensitivity, exclusively or in combination with other food hypersensitivity, together with the Swedish Parental Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ) and in comparison to parents with children without food hypersensitivity., Results: The validation of FLIP on 94 families indicated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α 0.9) and good reproducibility (ICC 0.71). The FLIP showed moderate correlation with the SPSQ (r = 0.48) and proved capable of discriminating families by disease burden. Affected families experienced higher stress on their daily lives (p = 0.02) and higher impact on nutrition concerns (p < 0.0001) compared to families with children without food hypersensitivity., Conclusions: The FLIP is a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument and could be valuable both clinically and in research. The results confirm recommendations of the need for continuous and updated dietary treatment and support for the families with young children with food hypersensitivity., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)