Allergen testing
| All (382) | Belfast (95) | Brompton (99) | Leicester (79) | Manchester (109) | ||
| Environmental allergen test (%) | ||||||
| RAST only | 98 (25.6) | 9 (9.5) | 13 (13.1) | 7 (8.9) | 69 (63.3) | |
| SPT only | 36 (9.4) | 5 (5.2) | 4 (4.0) | 18 (22.8) | 9 (8.2) | |
| Both | 226 (59.2) | 81 (85.3) | 79 (79.8) | 50 (63.3) | 16 (14.7) | |
| Not done | 22 (5.8) | 0 | 3 (3.0) | 4 (5.1) | 15 (13.8) | |
| Domestic exposures (%) pets | ||||||
| Yes (%) | 116 (30.4) | 27 (28.4) | 20 (20.2) | 29 (36.7) | 40 (36.7) | p=0.026 |
| No (%) | 253 (66.2) | 64 (67.3) | 77 (77.8) | 50 (63.2) | 62 (56.9) | |
| Not recorded (%) | 13 (3.4) | 4 (4.2) | 2 (2.0) | 0 | 7 (9.7) | |
| Aspergillus/fungi | ||||||
| Yes (%) | 18 (4.7) | 1 (1.0) | 0 | 4 (5.1) | 13 (11.9) | p<0.001 |
| No (%) | 351 (91.9) | 91 (95.8) | 97 (98.0) | 74 (93.7) | 89 (81.7) | |
| Not recorded (%) | 13 (3.4) | 3 (3.2) | 2 (2.0) | 1 (1.3) | 7 (6.4) | |
| House dust mite (%)* | ||||||
| Positive | 181 (47.4) | 34 (35.8) | 85 (85.9) | 33 (41.8) | 29 (26.6) | p<0.001 |
| Negative | 74 (19.4) | 61 (64.2) | 3 (3.0) | 1 (1.3) | 9 (8.3) | |
| Not done | 127 (33.2) | 0 | 11 (11.1) | 45 (57.0) | 71 (65.1) | |
| % positivity for patients tested | 71.0% | 35.8% | 96.6% | 97.0% | 76.3% | |
| Cat (%)* | ||||||
| Positive | 159 (41.6) | 29 (30.5) | 77 (77.8) | 18 (22.8) | 35 (32.1) | p<0.001 |
| Negative | 84 (22.0) | 66 (69.5) | 7 (7.1) | 1 (1.3) | 10 (9.2) | |
| Not done | 139 (36.4) | 0 | 15 (15.1) | 60 (75.9) | 64 (58.7) | |
| % positivity for patients tested | 65.4% | 30.5% | 91.7% | 94.7% | 77.8% | |
| Dog (%)* | ||||||
| Positive | 155 (40.6) | 26 (27.4) | 78 (78.8) | 23 (29.1) | 28 (25.7) | p<0.001 |
| Negative | 95 (24.9) | 68 (71.6) | 7 (7.1) | 1 (1.3) | 19 (17.4) | |
| Not done | 132 (34.5) | 1 (1.0) | 14 (14.1) | 55 (69.6) | 62 (56.9) | |
| % positivity for patients tested | 62.0% | 27.7% | 91.8% | 95.8% | 59.6% | |
| Mixed grasses (%)* | ||||||
| Positive | 149 (39.0) | 31 (32.6) | 77 (77.8) | 26 (32.9) | 15 (13.8) | p<0.001 |
| Negative | 81 (21.2) | 64 (67.4) | 5 (5.0) | 1 (1.3) | 11 (10.1) | |
| Not done | 152 (39.8) | 0 (0) | 17 (17.2) | 52 (65.8) | 83 (76.1) | |
| % positivity for patients tested | 64.8% | 32.6% | 93.9% | 96.3% | 57.7% | |
| Aspergillus (%)* | ||||||
| Positive | 170 (44.5) | 18 (18.9) | 76 (76.8) | 14 (17.7) | 62 (56.9) | p<0.001 |
| Negative | 99 (25.6) | 68 (71.6) | 6 (6.1) | 2 (2.5) | 23 (21.1) | |
| Missing | 113 (29.6) | 9 (9.5) | 17 (17.2) | 63 (79.7) | 24 (22.0) | |
| % positivity for patients tested | 63.2% | 20.9% | 92.7% | 87.5% | 72.9% | |
Group data, n (%) for all subjects, are presented in column 2 followed by data for individual centres. Exposure to Aspergillus/fungi refers to these being apparent away from normal domestic areas (eg, windows, bathroom, etc.) Between-centre comparisons were made using χ2 exact analysis.
Significance was taken as p<0.01.
RAST, radioallergosorbent; SPT, skin prick testing.
↵* The data presented are for subjects with either a positive RAST or skin prick test.