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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Background & aims: As far as we know, no screening questionnaire has been developed and
validated for identification of adverse food reactions in Portuguese-speaking adults, as an initial
approach towards the investigation of cases of possible food allergy. Thus, the objective of this
study was to develop and validate a screening questionnaire of food allergy in adult Portuguesespeaking patients.
Methods: This was a multicentre, cross-sectional study using a simple random sample of 186
adults between 18 and 82 years old from various parts of the centre of Portugal. Intelligibility of
the questionnaire was first assessed in 24 patients with confirmed IgE- or non-IgE-mediated food
allergy, and in 24 volunteers without food allergies. The 17-item questionnaire was subsequently
applied by phone to 78 food allergic patients (66 IgE-mediated and 12 non-IgE mediated) and to
60 non-food allergic volunteers, with subsequent reassessment (re-test). Face and content validity,
intelligibility, construct validity, and test-retest reliability (temporal stability) were analysed.
Results: Face and content validity allowed item reduction from 30 to 17 items with adequate
content validity index >0.78. Construct validity was confirmed in the 66 confirmed IgE-mediated
food allergic patients, 12 non-IgE-mediated food allergic patients, and 60 non-allergic patients.
Test-Retest Reliability (general temporal stability) of the test had a Spearman correlation coefficient value of 0.845 for the retest. Cohen's Kappa values for the relevant questions were greater
than 0.890 for almost all items. No differences were found when sex, age, and volunteers'
recruitment origin were analysed. An inverse relationship was found between reliability and retest
time interval.
Conclusions: Due to the quick and easy implementation, confirmation of face, content and
construct validity as well as high temporal reproducibility, this screening questionnaire may be a
useful study tool for an initial approach to detection of food allergies in adults.
Description
Keywords
Adults Adverse food reactions Food allergy Questionnaire Validation