Development and validation of the anaphylaxis quality of life scale for adults.
Abstract
Background: Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can have a detrimental impact on quality of life (QoL). There are no validated scales to measure the impact of anaphylaxis on QoL of adults.
Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and assess the reliability and validity of a QoL scale for adults with anaphylaxis (Anaphylaxis Quality of Life Scale for Adults [A-QoL-Adults]).
Methods: All participants were recruited from a specialist allergy clinic and had a confirmed diagnosis of anaphylaxis (as per the World Allergy Organization diagnostic criteria) to food, drugs, venom, or latex or had spontaneous anaphylaxis. Interviews were conducted with 13 adults; data were analyzed using thematic analysis to extract items for a QoL scale. A prototype QoL scale was then completed by 115 participants alongside validated scales to measure generic QoL (World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale [Brief Version] [WHOQoL BREF]), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), and stress (Perceived Stress Scale [PSS]).
Results: The A-QoL-Adults scale has 21 items demonstrating excellent internal reliability (Cronbach α = 0.96). Factor analysis produced 3 subscales: Emotional Impact; Social Impact; and Limitations on Life. Each has excellent internal reliability (0.92, 0.92, and 0.91, respectively). Poorer anaphylaxis-related QoL (total A-QoL-Adults score and subscale scores) correlated significantly with poorer general QoL and greater anxiety, depression, and stress (all P < .01 with medium-to-large effect sizes).
Conclusions: The A-QoL-Adults scale is a reliable measure of QoL in adults with anaphylaxis and shows good construct validity. It will offer health care professionals a means to further understand the impact of anaphylaxis on adult patients and could help direct and monitor allergy management and the need for further psychological intervention.
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Date
2022-03-05
Type
Article
Subject
Psychology, Microbiology. Immunology
Collections
Citation
Knibb RC, Huissoon AP, Baretto R, Ekbote A, Onyango-Odera S, Screti C, Newman KL, Krishna MT. Development and Validation of the Anaphylaxis Quality of Life Scale for Adults. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022 Jun;10(6):1527-1533.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2022.02.023. Epub 2022 Mar 5
Journal / Source Title
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice
DOI
10.1016/j.jaip.2022.02.023
PMID
35259537
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher’s URL
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22132198