Skin prick test (SPT) is the most common diagnostic procedure performed considering the history of aeroallergen sensitivity among patients. Moreover, it is vital to identify the numbers of allergen diagnostic and therapeutic benefits in skin prick testing in adults and children. The present study aims to detect the minimum number of allergens used in SPT to identify 95% of sensitized patients in Jordan and pediatric and adult age groups.
Retrospective analysis of 20 allergen extracts SPT results for 2253 patients (aged eight and above) was conducted to assess the minimum number of allergen extracts needed to identify 95% of the sensitized patients in both adults and children. The results showed that 50.9% of the pediatric group was sensitized to at least one aeroallergen extract in comparison to 48.3% of the adult group. Only eight allergen extracts were necessary to identify 95% of the sensitized patients: olive pollen, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Salsola kali, and four cereals, Wall pellitory, Dermatophagoides farinae, Cypress, and mugwort. The same number was needed in children but with the replacement of mugwort with Alternaria to achieve a similar result.
The study concluded that only eight allergen extracts were needed for detecting 95% of sensitized patients (both pediatrics and adults) in SPT. The authors proposed a two-stage screening: stage 1 includes the minimum number of allergen extracts to detect 95% of sensitized patients and stage 2 for the patients who tested negative in stage 1, including a broader allergen extracts panel excluding those which were already tested in stage 1.
