title: Catching allergy by a simple questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Identifying allergic rhinitis requires allergy testing, but the first-line referral for rhinitis are usually primary care physicians (PCP), who are not familiar with such tests. The availability of easy and simple tests to be used by PCP to suggest allergy should be very useful.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Respiratory Allergy Prediction (RAP) test, based on 9 questions and previously validated by a panel of experts, was evaluated in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An overall number of 401 patients (48.6% males, age range 14-62 years) with respiratory symptoms was included. Of them, 89 (22.2%) showed negative results to SPT, while 312 (77.8%) had at least one positive result to SPT. Cohen's kappa coefficient showed that all questions had an almost perfect excellent agreement between pre and post-test. The algorithm of decision-tree growth Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector showed that answering yes to the question 4 (Your nasal/ocular complains do usually start or worsen during the spring?), 6 (Did you ever had cough or shortness of breath, even during exercise?) and 8 (Do you use nasal sprays frequently?) gave a probability to have a positive SPT of 85%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings show that RAP test can be proposed as an useful tool to be used by physician other than allergists when evaluating patients with rhinitis, suggesting the need of allergy testing.
authors.affiliation: Allergology Department, Ospedale Maggiore della Carità, Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, University Department of Internal Medicine, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passalacqua
authors.affiliation: Allergy/Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit, ICP Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristoforo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Incorvaia
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Unit, Riuniti Hospital, Tortona, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Castella
authors.affiliation: Allergy Unit, Carlo Poma Hospital, Mantova, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Costantino
authors.affiliation: Allergy Unit, Riuniti Hospital, Rivoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Beniamino
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cucchi
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, G. Martino Hospital, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gangemi
authors.affiliation: Immunohaematology and Transfusion Service, ASUR Zona 13, Ascoli Piceno, Italy.
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Allergy Unit, Riuniti Hospital, Rivoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raviolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine and Immunological Sciences, Santa Maria alle Scotte Hospital, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rottoli
authors.affiliation: Allergy Service/Pneumology Unit, Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scichilone
authors.affiliation: Allergology Department, Ospedale Maggiore della Carità, Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sciolla
authors.affiliation: National Healthcare System, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Germano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bettoncelli
authors.affiliation: National Healthcare System, ASL TO3, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Erminia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ridolo
authors.affiliation: Medical, Scientific and Regulatory Department, Stallergenes Italy, Via Tibullo 2, 20151, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buttafava
authors.affiliation: Medical, Scientific and Regulatory Department, Stallergenes Italy, Via Tibullo 2, 20151, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puccinelli
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, University Department of Internal Medicine, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio Walter
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Canonica
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiocchi
authors.affiliation: Medical, Scientific and Regulatory Department, Stallergenes Italy, Via Tibullo 2, 20151, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frati
keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Allergy; Allergy testing; Pharmacists; Primary care physicians