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In this month’s issue of Natural Medicine Journal, March 2010, Drs Wendy Hodsdon and Heather Zwickey compared two different food allergy testing methods (IgG ELISA and cell size variability) for measures of repeatability (reliable and reproducible test scores) and consistency of test scores over the course of a week.
As a measure of internal laboratory test repeatability, a blood sample was collected from one subject, split into four samples and two samples were sent to each lab, in accordance to the proper sample collection and shipping producers of each lab. The laboratory utilizing cell size variability methodology demonstrated 34% repeatability in test scores between the split samples. The laboratory utilizing IgG ELISA on the other hand, demonstrated 95% repeatability between the split samples. In addition, 38% of the test scores of the split sample from the cell size variability method differed by two or more reactivity levels. No variability higher than a difference of one reactivity level was evident on the IgG ELISA split. This is especially noteworthy as the reactivity level on tested antigens may set the decision point for the clinician on dietary recommendations for the patient.
The consistency of test scores over a one week period was assessed for test repeatability over time. On three different days during one week, blood samples were collected at four different time points, sent to both labs and results compared. 2% of the samples tested by the cell size variability method yielded identical test scores for each of the four time points over the course of the week (Coefficient of variation = 0.55). On the other hand, 82% of the samples tested by the IgG ELISA method demonstrated identical test scores over the course of the week (coefficient of variation = 0.05).
Based on the results of this study, the authors note that the IgG ELISA by this laboratory demonstrated excellent intralaboratory correlation for the split sample and those collected over the course of the week. Test scores from the IgG ELISA method by US BioTek Laboratories were reproducible and consistent. The authors note that interlaboratory analysis comparing the test scores from the two participating labs was not feasible due to the unreliability in the results from the cell size variability testing method.
The complete research paper may be found at the reference:
Hodsdon, W., Zwickey, H. (2010).
Reproducibility and reliability of two food allergy testing methods.
Natural Medicine Journal, 2(3), 8-13.
You may also download the PDF version at http://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/.
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