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Validation of the Paediatric Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (PFA-QL)
Rebecca C Knibb1, Nur F Ibrahim, Rachel Petley
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education Health and Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK. r.c.knibb@derby.ac.uk
Insights
The Paediatric Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (PFA-QL) and its parent version (PFA-QL-PF) are reliable and valid tools for assessing quality of life in children with food allergies. These UK-developed scales offer a culturally specific option for research and clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Health-Related Quality of Life Research
- Psychometric Validation Studies
Background:
- The Paediatric Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (PFA-QL) was the first tool developed to assess health-related quality of life (QoL) in children with food allergies.
- Despite its use in numerous studies, the PFA-QL has not undergone formal validation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the child (PFA-QL) and parent-proxy (PFA-QL-PF) versions of the PFA-QL.
- To assess the reliability and validity of these tools in both specialist allergy clinic and general population settings.
Main Methods:
- 103 children (aged 6–16) with peanut or tree nut allergy completed the PFA-QL and a generic QoL scale (PedsQL).
- Test-retest reliability of the PFA-QL was assessed in 50 stable patients.
- 756 parents of food-allergic children completed the PFA-QL-PF and other validated questionnaires measuring child health and parental burden.
Main Results:
- Both PFA-QL and PFA-QL-PF demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.77–0.82).
- Moderate to good agreement was found between the PFA-QL and generic QoL measures.
- The PFA-QL showed stability over time, and girls reported poorer QoL than boys in both samples.
Conclusions:
- The PFA-QL and PFA-QL-PF are reliable and valid instruments for assessing QoL in children with food allergies.
- These UK-developed and validated tools provide a culturally relevant option for research, clinical trials, and practice within the UK.
- Further validation studies in international populations are recommended.
Background:
The Paediatric Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (PFA-QL) was the first tool to be developed for assessing health-related quality of life (QoL) in children with food allergy. It has been used in a number of published studies, but has not been validated.
Objective:
The aim of the current study was to validate child (PFA-QL) and parent-proxy (PFA-QL-PF) versions of the scale in a specialist allergy clinic and in parents of children with food allergy.
Methods:
For the clinic sample, a generic QoL scale (PedsQL) and the PFA-QL were completed by 103 children (age 6-16 yrs) with peanut or tree nut allergy; test-retest reliability of the PFA-QL was tested in 50 stable patients. For the non-clinical sample, 756 parents of food allergic children completed the PFA-QL-PF, the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ-PF50), Food Allergy Quality of Life Parental Burden Scale (FAQL-PB) and a Food Allergy Impact Measure.
Results:
The PFA-QL and PFA-QL-PF had good internal consistency (α's of 0.77-0.82), and there was moderate-to-good agreement between the generic- and disease-specific questionnaires. The PFA-QL was stable over time in the clinic sample, and in both samples, girls were reported to have poorer QoL than boys.
Conclusions:
The PFA-QL and PFA-QL-PF are reliable and valid scales for use in both clinical and non-clinical populations. Unlike other available tools, they were developed and validated in the UK and thus provide a culture-specific choice for research, clinical trials and clinical practice in the UK. Validation in other countries is now needed.
