Validation of a disease-specific questionnaire for measuring parent-reported health-related quality of life in children with allergies.

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.