Validation of a Comprehensive Early Childhood Allergy Questionnaire

Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2015 Sep;26(6):522-9. doi: 10.1111/pai.12415. Epub 2015 Jul 22.

Abstract

Background: Parental questionnaires to assess incidence of pediatric allergic disease have been validated for use in school-aged children. Currently, there is no validated questionnaire-based assessment of food allergy, atopic dermatitis (AD), and asthma for infants and young children.

Methods: The Comprehensive Early Childhood Allergy Questionnaire was designed for detecting AD, asthma, and IgE-mediated food allergies in children aged 1-5 years. A nested case-control design was applied. Parents of 150 children attending pediatric outpatient clinics completed the questionnaire before being clinically assessed by a pediatrician for allergies. Sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the questionnaire were assessed.

Results: Seventy-seven children were diagnosed with one or more current allergic diseases. The questionnaire demonstrated high overall sensitivity of 0.93 (95% CI 0.86-0.98) with a specificity of 0.79 (95% CI 0.68-0.88). Questionnaire reproducibility was good with a kappa agreement rate for symptom-related questions of 0.45-0.90.

Conclusions: Comprehensive Early Childhood Allergy Questionnaire accurately and reliably reflects the presence of allergies in children aged 1-5 years. Its use is warranted as a tool for determining prevalence of allergies in this pediatric age group.

Keywords: asthma; atopic dermatitis; childhood allergy; food allergy; parental questionnaire validation.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Asthma / diagnosis*
  • Asthma / epidemiology
  • Asthma / immunology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Child, Preschool
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / diagnosis*
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / epidemiology
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / immunology
  • Female
  • Food Hypersensitivity / diagnosis*
  • Food Hypersensitivity / epidemiology
  • Food Hypersensitivity / immunology
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Parents
  • Pilot Projects
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*