Food allergy QoL questionnaire for children aged 0-12 years: content, construct, and cross-cultural validity

Summary Background To date, there is no food allergy‐specific questionnaire that allows parents to report children's health‐related QoL (HRQL) from the child's perspective. Objective The aim of this study was to develop a sensitive, multi‐dimensional measure to assess parental perception of HRQL in children aged 0–12 years with food allergy. Methods The Food Allergy QoL – Parent Form (FAQLQ‐PF) was developed and validated in four stages: (1) item generation using focus groups, expert opinion, and literature review; (2) item reduction, using clinical impact and factor analysis; (3) internal and test–retest reliability and construct validity were evaluated using relevant scales of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)‐28 and the disease‐specific food allergy independent measure (FAIM); and (4) cross‐cultural and content validity was examined by administering the questionnaire in a US sample. Results Stage 1: Saturation was reached at 110 items. Stage 2: The reduced instrument has 14 items for children 0.7 for subscales and total score. Construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between FAQLQ‐PF and the FAIM (parent report) and between the FAQLQ‐PF and the FAIM (child report). No differences were observed between the US and Irish scores. Conclusion The FAQLQ‐PF is psychometrically robust, with excellent reliability and validity.