The effectiveness of skin prick test in diagnosing severe paediatric food allergy: A systematic review

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.