Abstract

BACKGROUND: Food allergy (FA) is a growing global problem and can affect patients' health related quality of life (HRQoL) due to increased anxiety as well as social and economic restrictions. Interventions such as oral food challenges (OFCs) and oral immunotherapy (OIT) have been shown to improve HRQoL, however, meta-analysis and systematic synthesis of these data are lacking.OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize potential benefits of interventions (OIT and OFC) for addressing FA to a variety of foods.METHODS: We conducted a systematic search through PubMed and Cochrane Medical Library databases and performed a meta-analysis focusing on studies assessing changes in HRQoL after OIT and/or OFCs in FA participants and caregivers from 2010 to July 2020. Random effects model and I2 statistics were used to assess the overall intervention effects and heterogeneity across studies.RESULTS: We included 13 publications in this meta-analysis (OIT=7, OFCs=6). The mean change of HRQoL scores after OIT and OFCs were -1.25 (P<0.001) and -0.78 (P=0.052), with significant I2 of 87% (P<0.001) and 90% (P<0.001), respectively. Five OIT studies found significant improvements in HRQoL in the OIT group compared to the placebo group with an overall standardized mean difference of -0.56 (P=0.007; I2=42%, P=0.099).CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis showed that in FA patients, both OIT and OFCs are associated with an improvement in HRQoL. Well-designed and long-term HRQoL studies are necessary to ascertain sustained benefits of OIT and OFCs.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaip.2021.05.020

View details for PubMedID 34089927