Bulent Sekerel

and 4 more

Background: Food allergies, particularly their severe and persistent forms, have a significant impact on children’s quality of life (QoL). Understanding and enhancing QoL is a crucial component of food allergy management. This study aimed to evaluate the QoL of Turkish children aged 0-12 years with IgE-mediated tree nut allergies (TNA) and explore influential factors, including parental anxiety. Methods: Primary caregiver-parents of children diagnosed with TNA completed the valid and reliable Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Parent Form (FAQLQ-PF) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to assess QoL and parental anxiety, respectively. Results: The study included 88 parents, predominantly mothers (83%). The children had a median age of 12 months (IQR 7.25-19.5). The mean FAQLQ-PF score was 3.55±1.34 without a statistical significance between age groups (0-3 years 3.15±1.28; 4-6 years 3.76±1.42; 7-12 years 3.73±1.19). Parents reported significantly worse FAQLQ-PF scores for children with hazelnut allergy, with a history of anaphylaxis, and who had to use an adrenaline autoinjector. State and trait anxiety scores were strongly correlated (r=0.584, p<0.001). There was significant but weak correlations between FAQLQ-PF and STAI domains. The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that having a hazelnut allergy, a history of anaphylaxis, and higher parental state anxiety were all associated with poorer FAQLQ-PF scores, but, fathers tended to report better level of QoL. Conclusions: The QoL of Turkish children with TNA, as reported by parents, is influenced by various factors. Understanding and addressing these factors are crucial for a deeper understanding of how to enhance the accuracy of QoL assessment.

Elif Soyak Aytekin

and 3 more

Background: Allergen immunotherapy(AIT) is an effective treatment for allergic rhinitis, asthma and venom allergy. Compliance is essential for AIT to obtain maximal benefit as it is a long term treatment. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the real life compliance of children with subcutaneous immunotherapy(SCIT) and tried to document the factors associated. Additionally how COVID-19 pandemic effected the compliance of the patients and the reasons of drop-outs were also evaluated. Method: Patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma or venom allergy and treated with SCIT between 2012 September, 2020 July were analyzed. Results: The study population comprised of 201 children (66,7% male) with a median (interquartile range) age of 12,8(9,4-15,2) years during the first injection of SCIT. The overall compliance rate before COVID-19 pandemic was 86,1%. Short AIT follow up time and venom allergy were found to be risk factors for drop out. The leading causes of drop outs were moving to another city/country(32,1%), improvement of symptoms(17,8%), ineffectiveness(14,2%) and adverse reactions(14,2%). During COVID-19 pandemic, among 108 patients receiving AIT, 31(28,7%) dropped out the therapy. The most frequent reasons for drop-outs were fear of being infected with COVID-19(35,4%) and thinking that the AIT practise stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic(29%). Male gender and older age were found to be the independent risk factors for drop out. Conclusion: The real life compliance in children was higher than in adults. Nearly one third of children dropped out during COVID-19 pandemic. Male gender and older age are associated with AIT drop out during COVID-19 pandemic.