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Most of us in primary care practice probably aren’t very good at determining the specific allergens to which our asthma and rhinitis patients are sensitive. In this U.K. study, 127 patients with asthma, rhinitis, or both were asked to identify to what they thought they were allergic. Then, they were assessed formally with both nurse-administered structured allergy-history questionnaires and skin prick testing with five common aeroallergens. An allergist interpreted skin test results in the context of patients’ structured histories.
In self-assessments, 48%, 37%, 46%, 27%, and 45% of patients reported allergies to grass pollen, tree pollen, cats, dogs, and house dust mites, respectively. However, formal assessment (questionnaires plus skin te…