Quality-of-life in wasp venom allergy - validation of the German version of the "Vespid Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire" (VQLQ-d).

Background: Little is known about the quality of life of patients who are allergic to insect venom. This fact is due to the lack of specific instruments assessing the interaction of type 1 allergy and its psychological burden.

Patients And Methods: The only established questionnaire on health-related quality-of-life in patients with wasp venom allergies is the "Vespid Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire" (VQLQ). This questionnaire was translated from Dutch into German and validated with 79 patients with wasp venom allergy, including the use of the well-established general quality-of-life questionnaire WHOQOL-BREF.

Results: In the German version VQLQ-d we could reproduce the validity and reliability of the original Dutch version. Cronbach's alpha of the VQLQ-d was α= 0.95. The results of the VQLQ-d corresponded to the total score of the WHOQOL-BREF.

Conclusion: The VQLQ-d enables measurement of quality-of-life in patients with wasp venom allergy in the German-speaking population. This economic tool makes it possible to better describe and treat affected patients. Furthermore, it can be used to advance research in this field.