Systematic review and meta-analyses on the accuracy of diagnostic tests
for IgE-mediated food allergy
Abstract
Abstract: Background: The European Academy of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology’s (EAACI) is updating the Guidelines on Food
Allergy Diagnosis. We aimed to undertake a systematic review of the
literature with meta-analyses to assess the accuracy of diagnostic tests
for IgE-mediated food allergy. Methods: We searched three
databases (Cochrane CENTRAL (Trials), MEDLINE (OVID) and Embase (OVID))
for diagnostic test accuracy studies published between 1
st October 2012 and 30 th June 2021
according to a previously published protocol (CRD42021259186). We
independently screened abstracts, extracted data from full-texts, and
assessed risk of bias with QUADRAS 2 tool in duplicate. Meta analyses
were undertaken for food-test combination where 3 or more studies were
available. Results: 149 studies comprising 24,489 patients met
the inclusion criteria and were generally heterogeneous. 60.4% of
studies were in children ≤12 years of age, 54.3% undertaken in Europe,
≥95% conducted in a specialized pediatric or allergy clinical setting
and all included oral food challenge in at least a percentage of
enrolled patients, in 21.5% DBPCFC. Skin prick test (SPT) with fresh
cow’s milk and raw egg had high sensitivity (90% and 94%) for milk and
cooked egg allergies. Specific IgE to individual components had high
specificity: Ara h 2 had 92%, Cor a 14 95%, Ana o 3 94%, casein 93%,
ovomucoid 92/91% for the diagnosis of peanut, hazelnut, cashew, cow’s
milk and raw/cooked egg allergies, respectively. BAT was highly specific
for the diagnosis of peanut (90%) and sesame (93%) allergies.
Conclusions: SPT and specific IgE to extracts had high
sensitivity whereas specific IgE to components and BAT had high
specificity to support the diagnosis of individual food allergies.
PROSPERO registration: CRD42021259186 Funding:
European Academy of Allergy (EAACI).