This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Stress, anxiety affected skin prick test in young adults
Stress and anxiety impacted skin prick test responses in young adults with allergic rhinitis, according to data.
“Assessment of current anxiety and stress at the time of skin prick testing and clinical history may provide valuable information about the allergic status of the patient and aid in clinical decision making,” Kathi L. Heffner, PhD, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, department of psychiatry, Rochester Center for Mind–Body Research, in Rochester, NY, and colleagues wrote.
They admitted 10 men and 18 women (aged 18 to 33 years) with allergic rhinitis to a hospital research unit for 4 hours on two occasions. Skin prick test wheals were examined before and after the Trier Social Stress Test was administered.
More than half of the patients (n=17, 60.7%) demonstrated at least one positive skin prick test response (wheal ≥3 mm larger than saline control immediately for post-task or day 2 skin prick tests) at the stress or nonstress visit for an antigen that tested negative at baseline, according to data.
Of those, 40 skin prick tests tested positive post-task after previously negative tests at baseline (mean 2.38, standard deviation 1.78, range 1-6). Data also indicated that eight of the 10 men (80%) and nine of the 18 women (50%) had at least one positive skin prick test post-task response, proportions that were not significantly different, the researchers wrote.
The present results suggest that, in anxious patients with atopy, whether specific allergens test positively or negatively in the clinic may be influenced by a patient’s recent stress levels,” they concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
Back to Top