Validation of the Finnish version of the food allergy quality of life questionnaire-parent form (F-FAQLQ-PF)

J E Kivistö; B Flokstra de Blok; J L P Protudjer; I Ojaniemi; J Karjalainen; H Huhtala; A Dunn Galvin

doi:10.1111/apa.16937

Validation of the Finnish version of the food allergy quality of life questionnaire-parent form (F-FAQLQ-PF)

Acta Paediatr. 2024 Jan;113(1):91-97. doi: 10.1111/apa.16937. Epub 2023 Aug 17.

Authors

J E Kivistö^{1

2

3}, B Flokstra de Blok^{4

5

6}, J L P Protudjer^{7

8

9

10

11}, I Ojaniemi¹, J Karjalainen^{1

2}, H Huhtala¹², A Dunn Galvin¹³

Affiliations

¹ Allergy Centre, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
² Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
³ Tampere Center for Child Health Research, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
⁴ General Practitioners Research Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁵ University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁶ University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁷ Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁹ The Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
¹⁰ George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
¹¹ Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹² Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
¹³ School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.

PMID: 37548086
DOI: 10.1111/apa.16937

Abstract

Aim: Specific questionnaires about food allergy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) have been developed and validated in several languages, but not Finnish. We aimed to validate the Finnish Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Parent Form (FAQLQ-PF) for children under age 13 years.

Methods: The original FAQLQ-PF and Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM) were translated into Finnish per World Health Organisation guidelines and tested by 72 parents of children under age 13 years with suspected severe peanut or tree nut allergy who were recruited at Allergy Centre in Tampere University Hospital in Tampere, Finland. We calculated the construct validity of the questionnaire by calculating the coefficients between the two measures and used Cronbach's alpha to establish the internal consistency.

Results: The FAQLQ-PF showed strong correlations with domain structure and internal consistency, based on Spearman's correlations (rho) for the HRQoL questions, FAIM questions and FAIM mean values. The total questionnaire score correlated significantly with the mean FAIM (rho = 0.95, p < 0.001) and individual FAIM questions. The FAQLQ-PF and domains had good or excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.70).

Conclusion: The Finnish FAQLQ-PF demonstrated good construct validity and excellent internal consistency for measuring food allergy HRQoL in children under age 13 years.

Keywords: food allergy; food allergy quality of life questionnaire-parent form; health-related quality of life; validation.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Finland
Food Hypersensitivity* / diagnosis
Food Hypersensitivity* / epidemiology
Humans
Parents
Quality of Life*
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding