Validation of Family Sampling for Mite Allergen (Der p 1) Exposure

Carswell, F.; Aldabbagh, Maha; Hunt, Loren W.; Carswell, A.J.

doi:10.1159/000024119

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The Acarex test has been developed as a home test, and the semiquantitative dosage of guanine was preferred even if it is less satisfactory than quantitative guanine measurements [9,10,23], because home tests are to be performed by patients or their families after instruction. Carswell et al [24] have recently shown that family house dust sampling is a valid method for estimating Der p1 exposure. We found in our study that samples collected from the same household item both by the patient and the technician led to the same Acarex score in 66.5% of samples; when a discrepancy was observed, it was rarely beyond one half of a scale point.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Indoor Mite Exposure: The Relevance of the Acarex Test

Haouichat

Pauli

Ott

et al. 2001

Indoor Built Environ

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The Acarex test is an easy, rapid and cost-effective means of assessing exposure to house dust mites. The present study was designed to evaluate the correlation between the Acarex test using a 4-point and a 7-point scale and the major allergens content (Der p1 + Der f1) of house dust samples measured by an ELISA technique and also to assess the validity of the test with regard to both sampling and reading of the colour scale. Some 719 house dust samples from patients’ homes were evaluated using the supplied 4-point scale (classes 0, 1, 2, 3) and again with interpolation of 3 intermediate scale points (classes 0.5, 1.5, 2.5) and Der p1 + Der f1 content using ELISA. Reliability of sampling was studied in 39 dwellings comparing results obtained by householders and technicians. Reproducibility of reading the colorimetric scale was evaluated in 3 trained technicians and 15 untrained people. The correlation between the Acarex and the ELISA results was 0.68 (p < 0.0001) with class 0 reliable for assessing low allergen levels, class 1 unable to discriminate, and classes 2 and 3 reflecting high allergen levels (class 3 identified 94.2% of samples with an allergen content greater than 10 µg·g^–1). Discrepancies between Acarex scores for samples collected by patients and those collected by technicians did not exceed half a scale point. Reproducibility of reading by trained technicians gave intraindividual and interindividual coefficients of variation of 0% for classes 0 and 3 and about 20% or more for the other classes. On average readings by untrained participants had 42% discrepancies, mostly in classes 1 and 2. We conclude that the Acarex test is a useful home test whether used by patients or technicians; misclassifications of colour readings were less frequent at the scale extremes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Indoor Mite Exposure: The Relevance of the Acarex Test

Haouichat

Pauli

Ott

et al. 2001

Indoor Built Environ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Acarex test has been developed as a home test, and the semiquantitative dosage of guanine was preferred even if it is less satisfactory than quantitative guanine measurements [9, 10, 23], because home tests are to be performed by patients or their families after instruction. Carswell et al [24] have recently shown that family house dust sampling is a valid method for estimating Der p 1 exposure. We found in our study that samples collected from the same household item both by the patient and the technician led to the same Acarex score in 66.5 % of samples ; when a discrepancy was observed, it was rarely beyond one half of a scale point.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Indoor Mite Exposure: The Relevance of the Acarex Test

Haouichat

Pauli

Ott

et al. 2001

Indoor and Built Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Acarex test is an easy, rapid and cost-effective means of assessing exposure to house dust mites. The present study was designed to evaluate the correlation between the Acarex test using a 4-point and a 7-point scale and the major allergens content (Der p1 + Der f1 ) of house dust samples measured by an ELISA technique and also to assess the validity of the test with regard to both sampling and reading of the colour scale. Some 719 house dust samples from patients' homes were evaluat ed using the supplied 4-point scale (classes 0, 1, 2, 3) and again with interpolation of 3 intermediate scale points (classes 0.5, 1.5, 2.5) and Der p1 + Der f1 content using ELISA. Reliability of sampling was studied in 39 dwell ings comparing results obtained by householders and technicians. Reproducibility of reading the colorimetric scale was evaluated in 3 trained technicians and 15 untrained people. The correlation between the Acarex and the ELISA results was 0.68 (p < 0.0001) with class 0 reliable for assessing low allergen levels, class 1 unable to discriminate, and classes 2 and 3 reflecting high aller gen levels (class 3 identified 94.2% of samples with an allergen content greater than 10 μg.g-1). Discrepancies between Acarex scores for samples collected by patients and those collected by technicians did not exceed half a scale point. Reproducibility of reading by trained techni cians gave intraindividual and interindividual coeffi cients of variation of 0% for classes 0 and 3 and about 20% or more for the other classes. On average readings by untrained participants had 42% discrepancies, mostly in classes 1 and 2. We conclude that the Acarex test is a useful home test whether used by patients or techni cians ; misclassifications of colour readings were less fre quent at the scale extremes. Copyright©2001 S. KargerAG, Basel

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