Psychological burden of food allergy

Table 1 Psychological aspects of adverse reactions to food

Author	Subjects	Examinations	Adverse reaction to food	Results
Pearson et al, 1983	8 males, 12 females; allergy clinic	Psychiatric clinical interview schedule Double blind placebo controlled food-challenge	Hypersensitivity was confirmed in 4 subjects	No psychological symptoms in subjects hypersensitivity was confirmed, high incidence of psychiatric disorder (neurotic depression, hysterical disorders) in subjects whose belief that they had a food allergy could not be confirmed
Rix et al,1984	23 patients; allergy clinic	Psychiatric clinical intervie schedule Double blind placebo controlled food-challenge	Hypersensitivity was confirmed in 4 subjects	No evidence of psychiatric disorder in subjects hypersensitivity was confirmed, high incidence of psychiatric disorder (identical with a group of psychiatric out patient referrals) in patients whose belief that they had a food allergy could not be confirmed
Bell et al,1993	490 young college students	Self-reported illness from several common foods and chemicals	Indefinite diagnosis	Correlation between perceived food intolerance and depression, anxiety, and somatization
Vatn et al,1995	17 patients with food intolerance 34 healthy referents	Prospective placebo-controlled study General Health Questionnaire Double blind placebo controlled food-challenge	Non IgE-mediated food intolerance	13 of 17 patients reported major distress or trauma during childhood, including loss of parents and violence or major psychiatric illness. Psychological problems are frequent
Peveler et al,1996	Community study in 273 adults	Blind food challenge test Clinical interview Several questionnaires Brief symptom inventory	Intolerance to test foods	Subjects that were judged not to be allergic on clinical grounds did not manifest significant mood disturbance or impaired social adjustment or other psychological symptoms
Knibb et al,1999	Random mailing recruited 955 participants, of whom 232 perceived them-selves to be food intolerant	General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) Eysenck Personality Questionnaire	Selfperception of food intolerance	It is concluded that perceived food intolerance is associated with psychological distress in women, and neurotic symptoms in both men and women, but there is no greater prevalence of psychiatric disorder among women or men
Lind et al,2005	46 patients with food hypersensitivity 50 health car workers 70 volunteers	Subjective Health Complaints Inventory and Modern Health Worries Scale	Subjective food hypersensitivity No IgE-mediated allergy	Subjects with subjective food hypersensitivity reported more subjective health complaints and more worries An association between subjective food hypersensitivity and subjective health complaints was supposed