BackgroundFood allergy is negatively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQL). Although differences exist between parents and children, less is known about age-specific differences amongst children. As such, we aimed to identify if age, as well as other factors, are associated with food allergy-specific HRQL in an objectively defined population of children.MethodsOverall, 63 children (boys: n = 36; 57.1%) with specialist-diagnosed food allergy to 1 + foods were included. Parents/guardians completed the Swedish version of a disease-specific questionnaire designed to assess overall- and domain-specific HRQL. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used.ResultsThe most common food allergy was hen’s egg (n = 40/63; 63.5%). Most children had more than one food allergy (n = 48; 76.2%). Nearly all had experienced mild symptoms (e.g. skin; n = 56/63; 94.9%), and more than half had severe symptoms (e.g. respiratory; 39/63; 66.1%). Compared to young children (0–5 years), older children (6–12 years) had worse HRQL (e.g. overall HRQL: B = 0.60; 95% CI 0.05–1.16; p < 0.04.). Similarly, multiple food allergies, and severe symptoms were significantly associated with worse HRQL (all p < 0.05) even in models adjusted for concomitant allergic disease. No associations were found for gender or socioeconomic status.ConclusionOlder children and those with severe food allergy have worse HRQL.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13601-019-0244-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectiveThe economic burden of food allergy on households is poorly understood. We evaluated the household costs associated with specialist-diagnosed pediatric food allergy, with focus on age and disease severity.Study designA cross-sectional study of 70 Swedish case-control pairs (59% boys) was conducted using Food Allergy Economic questionnaire. Household costs were analyzed between age- and gender-matched cases (children aged 0–17 years, with specialist-diagnosed food allergy) and controls (non-food allergic households).ResultsParents were predominantly university-educated and employed full-time. Most cases had parent-reported previous anaphylaxis. Mean total annual household costs were comparable between cases and controls. However, compared to controls, cases had significantly higher direct medical-, and non-medical related costs; higher indirect medical-related costs, and higher intangible costs (all p < 0.05). In a sensitivity analyses of only cases aged 0–12 years, direct household costs, including lost earnings due to child's hospitalization, were significantly higher than controls. Results from only children with severe disease paralleled those of all cases vs. controls.ConclusionsAlthough pediatric food allergy is not associated with higher total annual household costs, these households have significantly higher direct medical-related, indirect and intangible costs vs. non-food allergic households. Higher household costs were identified amongst younger children, but not disease severity.