1998-03-01
The diagnosis of allergic rhinitis: How to combine the medical history with the results of radioallergosorbent tests and skin prick tests
Publication
Publication
Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care , Volume 16 - Issue 1 p. 30- 36
To identify the most useful combinations of symptoms and the results of radioallergosorbent tests (RASTs) and skin prick tests (SPTs) for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis. Design - A prospective comparison was made of symptoms and the results of RASTs and SPTs with 7 different nasal allergies; the references used were the 'consensus diagnoses' provided by 3 experts. Setting - Nineteen general practices in The Netherlands. Patients - 365 consecutive patients aged 12 or over who visited their general practitioner because of chronic or recurrent nasal symptoms between 1 March 1990 and 1 March 1991. Main outcome measures - The most useful combinations of items from the history, RASTs, and SPTs, for the diagnosis of 7 different nasal allergies; the predictive probabilities of these combinations. Results - Diagnostic criteria could be drawn up resulting in a near-perfect discrimination between patients diagnosed as having allergic rhinitis and patients diagnosed as not having allergic rhinitis. Most of these criteria combined only a single item from the history with either RAST or SPT. For nearly all nasal allergies, both the negative predictive probabilities and the positive predictive probabilities were 97% or more. Conclusions - The common nasal allergies can be diagnosed with a very high certainty with the aid of simple diagnostic criteria. Data from a strictly limited case history combined with either RAST or SPT are sufficient.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
, , , , , | |
doi.org/10.1080/028134398750003377, hdl.handle.net/1765/70996 | |
Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care | |
Organisation | Department of Nuclear Medicine |
Crobach, M., Hermans, J., Kaptein, A., Ridderikhoff, C., Petri, H., & Mulder, J. (1998). The diagnosis of allergic rhinitis: How to combine the medical history with the results of radioallergosorbent tests and skin prick tests. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 16(1), 30–36. doi:10.1080/028134398750003377 |