BACKGROUND: Screening for the existence of aeroallergens in patients with 
possible allergic rhinitis using venous blood samples has become more popular, 
with advantages of increased convenience and less consumption of time.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the sensitivities and 
specificities of Phadiatop tests and total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels in both 
adults and children.
METHODS: This study was conducted prospectively in a tertiary center. The 
process of recruitment took place from Jan 2015 to Dec 2019, and patients with 
clinical symptoms that suggested persistent allergic rhinitis were recruited and 
their serum samples collected. The results of the total IgE and Phadiatop tests 
as well as the positive items in the ImmunoCAP assay were recorded and analyzed.
RESULTS: A total of 9174 cases with complete data were enrolled, including 576 
children and 8598 adults. A positive result in the ImmunoCAP assay was 
considered a positive atopic status towards aeroallergens. While using the total 
IgE levels to predict positive aeroallergens, the sensitivities and 
specificities were 65.7% and 85.7%, respectively, for adults and 86.3% and 
77.4%, respectively, for children. When we used Phadiatop tests for allergy 
screening, the sensitivities and specificities was 94.5% and 98.2%, 
respectively, for the adult group and 98.5% and 96.8%, respectively, for the 
pediatric group.
CONCLUSION: The Phadiatop test had better diagnostic power for aeroallergen 
detection than the serum total IgE levels, or even the dual test, for both the 
adult and pediatric groups in this hospital-based study. We suggest that the 
Phadiatop test is more cost-effective in aeroallergen screening for patients 
with suspected atopic airway diseases.