The excess costs of childhood food allergy on Canadian families: a cross-sectional study

Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology

Jennifer Gerdts¹  Elinor Simons²  Michael A. Golding²  Elissa M. Abrams³  Jennifer L. P. Protudjer⁴ 

[1] Food Allergy Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada;The Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, 501G-715 McDermot Avenue, R3M 3P4, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;The Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, 501G-715 McDermot Avenue, R3M 3P4, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada;The Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, 501G-715 McDermot Avenue, R3M 3P4, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Centre for Allergy Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;

关键词: Costs;    Food allergy;    Pediatrics;    Quality of life;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13223-021-00530-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe impact of childhood food allergy on household costs has not been examined in Canada. The current study sought to examine differences in direct, indirect, and intangible costs among Canadian families with and without a food-allergic child.MethodsFamilies with a child with a specialist-diagnosed food allergy (cases) were recruited from two tertiary pediatric allergy clinics in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, and matched, based on age and sex, to families without a food-allergic child (controls). Cost data for the two groups were collected via an adapted version of the Food Allergy Economic Questionnaire (FA-EcoQ). Consideration was given to income, defined as above vs. below the provincial annual median income.ResultsResults from 35 matched case/control pairs revealed that while total household costs did not significantly differ between cases and controls, food-allergic families did incur higher direct costs ($12,455.69 vs. $10,078.93, p = 0.02), which were largely attributed to spending on food. In contrast, cases reported lower, but not statistically significant, total indirect costs compared to controls ($10,038.76 vs. $12,294.12, p = 0.06). Families also perceived their food-allergic child as having poorer quality of life relative to their healthy peers. Lastly, stratification of the analyses by annual income revealed several differences between the higher and lower income groups.ConclusionsRelative to families without a food-allergic child, food-allergic families incurred higher direct costs across a number of different areas.

【 授权许可】

CC BY