Article

Do skin prick and conjunctival provocation tests predict symptom severity in seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis?

Infection Inflammation and Repair Research Division, School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Clinical & Experimental Allergy (impact factor: 5.03). 12/2006; 36(12):1488-93. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2222.2006.02594.x
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT In the investigation of seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (SAR), quantitative skin and conjunctival allergen challenge tests are used to measure individual allergen sensitivity. These tests are reproducible and relate well to prevalence but their relationship to symptom severity is less well established.
We wished to determine if quantitative skin prick tests (QSPT) and conjunctival provocation tests (CPTs) using a single grass pollen allergen extract are reproducible and predict symptom severity in SAR.
We retrospectively analysed data from 91 participants in a previously published randomized placebo controlled study of low dosage allergen immunotherapy who were randomized to receive placebo treatment. We examined the relationship between pre-seasonal QSPT, CPT and SAR symptoms.
We found a high level of reproducibility when repeated measures were compared for both the QSPT (P < 0.001) and the CPT (P < 0.001) and moderate correlation (0.49) between the standard skin prick test (SPT) and the QSPT (P < 0.001). We found weak negative correlation (-0.27) between the QSPT and the CPT (P < 0.001). We found no correlation between seasonal symptom, use of rescue medication or quality of life (QOL) scores and pre-seasonal QSPT or CPT. Conclusion In the assessment of seasonal rhinoconjunctivitis, quantitative skin and conjunctival allergen challenge tests are strongly reproducible, although there is no correlation between these tests and seasonal symptom, use of rescue medication or QOL scores.

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Keywords

91 participants
 
conjunctival allergen challenge tests
 
conjunctival provocation tests
 
low dosage allergen immunotherapy
 
measure individual allergen sensitivity
 
placebo treatment
 
pre-seasonal QSPT
 
published randomized placebo
 
QOL scores
 
QSPT
 
quantitative skin
 
quantitative skin prick tests
 
rescue medication
 
SAR symptoms
 
seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis
 
seasonal symptom
 
single grass pollen allergen
 
standard skin prick test
 
tests
 
weak negative correlation