Slovak A J, Hill R N
Br J Ind Med. 1987 Feb;44(2):129-32. doi: 10.1136/oem.44.2.129.
Atopy is widely used as a discriminant in selection for employment involving exposure to allergenic substances. The validity of this has been tested in a population with a known burden of what is largely considered to be an IgE mediated disease, laboratory animal allergy. The findings suggest that atopy is insufficiently sensitive and specific for this purpose and that this is probably true for other occupational allergic diseases. The relation between different concepts of atopy--namely, atopy defined by family history, by personal history, and by skin prick tests with common allergens--has also been examined. The subpopulations identified by these criteria differed appreciably. Different concepts of atopy should not be used synonymously as they often are at present.
特应性在涉及接触致敏物质的就业选择中被广泛用作一个判别标准。这一标准的有效性已在一个已知患有主要被认为是由IgE介导的疾病——实验动物过敏——的人群中进行了测试。研究结果表明,特应性在这方面的敏感性和特异性不足,而且对于其他职业性过敏性疾病可能也是如此。还研究了特应性的不同概念之间的关系,即由家族史、个人史以及对常见变应原进行皮肤点刺试验所定义的特应性。根据这些标准确定的亚人群有明显差异。不同的特应性概念不应像目前经常那样被同义使用。