Positive allergy prick tests associated with bronchial histamine responsiveness in an unselected population.

Bronchial responsiveness to histamine and skin prick test reactions to airborne allergens were measured in a random population sample of 891 adults and 1293 schoolchildren. Total serum IgE concentrations were measured in a subset of 389 adults. The prevalence of bronchial histamine responsiveness (BHR) in the adults increased from 5.8% in those who did not respond to allergen prick tests to 22.2% in those who responded to all five allergen groups (p less than 0.00001). Similarly, the prevalence of BHR in the children increased progressively from 3.5% to 35.3% as the number of positive allergen responses increased from zero through five (p less than 0.0001). In adults for whom IgE data were also available, those with BHR had a significantly higher total serum IgE concentration (p less than 0.002).