Health-related quality of life of food-allergic children compared with healthy controls and other diseases.

BACKGROUND: Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening disease, affecting up to 10% of the pediatric population. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of food-allergic patients compared with the general population and patients with other chronic diseases with dietary or allergic burden, in a cross-sectional study. METHODS: We recruited patients aged 8-17 years diagnosed with food allergy and matched healthy controls recruited in schools. We also included patients with asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, diabetes, obesity, and eating disorders. We used the CHQ-CF87 questionnaire for generic HRQL assessment. Food allergy HRQL was also assessed using specific questionnaires: Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ) and Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM). RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-five food-allergic children, 255 children with chronic diseases, and 463 healthy controls were included in the analyses. Food-allergic patients had a better HRQL than healthy controls in the Behavior (BE), Bodily Pain (BP), Family Activities (FA), and Mental Health (MH) domains and a worse HRQL in the General Health Perception (GH) domain (p = .048). Food-allergic patients exhibited a better HRQL than patients affected by other chronic diseases, notably diabetes. Although an epinephrine autoinjector had been prescribed to 87.4% of the food-allergic children, only 54.2% of them carried it at all times. CONCLUSION: Food-allergic patients display overall good HRQL compared with the general population and those with other diseases with daily symptoms and treatments, in line with recent improvements in food allergy management.

ROHHAD syndrome without rapid-onset obesity: A diagnosis challenge.

Background: ROHHAD syndrome (Rapid-onset Obesity with Hypothalamic dysfunction, Hypoventilation and Autonomic Dysregulation) is rare. Rapid-onset morbid obesity is usually the first recognizable sign of this syndrome, however a subset of patients develop ROHHAD syndrome without obesity. The prevalence of this entity is currently unknown. Alteration of respiratory control as well as dysautonomic disorders often have a fatal outcome, thus early recognition of this syndrome is essential. Material and methods: A retrospective, observational, multicenter study including all cases of ROHHAD without rapid-onset obesity diagnosed in France from 2000 to 2020. Results: Four patients were identified. Median age at diagnosis was 8 years 10 months. Median body mass index was 17.4 kg/m2. Signs of autonomic dysfunction presented first, followed by hypothalamic disorders. All four patients had sleep apnea syndrome. Hypoventilation led to the diagnosis. Three of the four children received ventilatory support, all four received hormone replacement therapy, and two received psychotropic treatment. One child in our cohort died at 2 years 10 months old. For the three surviving patients, median duration of follow-up was 7.4 years. Conclusion: ROHHAD syndrome without rapid-onset obesity is a particular entity, appearing later than ROHHAD with obesity. This entity should be considered in the presence of dysautonomia disorders without brain damage. Likewise, the occurrence of a hypothalamic syndrome with no identified etiology requires a sleep study to search for apnea and hypoventilation. The identification of ROHHAD syndrome without rapid-onset obesity is a clinical challenge, with major implications for patient prognosis.