Quality of life improves significantly after real-world oral immunotherapy for children with peanut allergy.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Peanut oral immunotherapy (POIT) is a novel and active form of treatment for patients with peanut allergy, with multiple research studies supporting its efficacy and safety. However, there are limited data available on changes in patients' quality of life (QoL) after successful desensitization. The Food and Drug Administration in the United States recently approved the first POIT drug for commercial use. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the QoL of patients with peanut allergy receiving POIT in a real-world academic setting. METHODS: Twenty-one patients aged 4 to 17 years with a physician-established diagnosis of peanut allergy were offered POIT. Quality-of-life scores were assessed with the use of a validated Food Allergy Quality of Life questionnaire. Changes in quality-of-life scores were measured for each patient before and after POIT. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the distributions of scores before and after therapy. RESULTS: We noted a statistically significant drop (reflecting improvement in the QoL) in the overall Food Allergy Quality of Life score (median 3.70 vs 2.97, P = .049) between baseline and successful desensitization to 300-mg peanut protein. In addition, the Social and Dietary Limitations subscale score (median 4.33 vs 2.89, P = .02) and the Food Allergy Independent Measure score (median 3.17 vs 2.22, P = .001) also improved significantly after therapy. CONCLUSION: We report a significant improvement in the overall QoL before and after POIT treatment, with fewer concerns about accidental exposures and severity of allergic reactions as well as fewer limitations in dietary choices and social interactions.