Single pollen allergens
In a first step, we compared which patients were extract
positive/negative and respective major allergen positive/negative.
Agreement14 was calculated by adding patients positive
to extract and the respective major allergen as well as patients
negative to extract and major allergen and describe the result as a
percentage of all patients tested with respective extract and major
allergen.
Furthermore, we examined medical charts of patients with discrepant
extract and major allergen results (=extract positive, major allergen
negative or vice versa) to find out if the results of major allergens
changed medical recommendations for or against AIT.
Finally, we calculated Pearson´s correlation coefficients (PCC) for
specific pairs of each allergen extract and its respective major
allergen. Values of IgE (kUA/l) were log-transformed as IgE-values
following a logarithmic slope. Concentrations below the lower detection
limit of 0.35 kUA/l were determined to be 0.1 kUA/l, while values above
the upper detection limit of 100 kUA/l were determined to be 200 kUA/l
in order to make further calculations and graphical presentation in a
scatter plot feasible. A p of ≤0.05 was assumed to be significant.