Validation and reliability of the Japanese version of the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Parent Form.

BACKGROUND: Food allergy (FA) is a heavy burden for patients and their families and can significantly reduce the quality of life (QoL) of both. To provide adequate support, qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the parents' QoL may be helpful. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a Japanese version of the Food Allergy QoL Questionnaire-Parent Form (FAQLQ-PF-J), an internationally validated disease-specific QoL measurement of the parental burden of having a child with FA.

METHODS: The FAQLQ-PF and the Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM), an instrument to test the construct validity of the FAQLQ-PF-J, were translated into Japanese. After language validation, the questionnaires were administered to parents of FA children aged 0-12 years and those of age-matched healthy (without FA) children. Internal consistency (by Cronbach's α) and test-retest reliability were evaluated. Construct validity and discriminant validity were also examined.

RESULTS: One hundred twenty-seven parents of children with FA and 48 parents of healthy children filled out the questionnaire. The FAQLQ-PF-J showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α > 0.77) and test-retest reliability. Good construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between the FAQLQ-PF-J and FAIM-J scores. It discriminated parents of children with FA from those without. The scores were significantly higher (lower QoL) for parents of FA children with a history of anaphylaxis than those without, for those with >6 FA-related symptoms experienced than those with less FA-related symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: The FAQLQ-PF-J is a reliable and valid measure of the parental burden of FA in children.