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Published on: July 13, 2009
Reproducibility of the skin prick test
I Vohlonen1, E O Terho, A Koivikko
1National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Allergy
|November 1, 1989
Summary
The skin prick test for allergies is most reproducible when measuring the geometric area of the weal reaction. Adjusting results by histamine reactions or using class ratings significantly decreases reproducibility.
Area of Science:
- Allergy diagnostics
- Dermatology
- Immunology
Background:
- The skin prick test is a common method for diagnosing allergies.
- Ensuring the reproducibility of allergy testing methods is crucial for accurate diagnosis and epidemiological studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reproducibility of the skin prick test method for allergy diagnosis.
- To determine the optimal method for expressing skin prick test results for maximum reproducibility.
Main Methods:
- Twenty subjects were tested by four nurses using hypodermic needles for skin pricking.
- The test included histamine and diluent controls, along with nine allergens.
- Weal reactions were measured and analyzed using different expression methods: geometric area, ratio to histamine, and class ratings.
Main Results:
- Reproducibility was highest when weal reactions were expressed as geometric areas.
- Expressing reactions as a ratio to histamine or using class ratings significantly reduced reproducibility.
- The decrease in reproducibility was attributed to the inherent variability in histamine reactions.
Conclusions:
- For epidemiological studies, expressing skin prick test weal reactions as geometric areas is recommended.
- In clinical practice, measuring weal diameters without histamine adjustment may be preferable for better reproducibility.
