The effectiveness of skin prick test in diagnosing severe paediatric
food allergy: A systematic review
Abstract
There is an increasing incidence of food allergy identified globally in
the paediatric population. Diagnosis of suspected cases by oral food
challenge (OFC) is time-consuming and often linked to anxiety in parents
and children. There is also a risk of triggering an anaphylaxis reaction
between 2.4%-34.1% of challenges triggering anaphylaxis. To reduce the
number of OFC carried out in allergy-suspected children, the use of skin
prick tests (SPT) is a simpler and less expensive method of diagnosis.
Although the predictive value of the SPT remains unclear, hence there is
a requirement for further studies on the predictive value of the SPT to
provide increased clarity of the essential parameters.