NIHR funds trial to evaluate the use of food allergy tests for eczema control

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is funding a definitive follow-on trial to TEST (Trial of Eczema allergy Screening Tests), which investigated the feasibility of evaluating the use of routine food allergy tests for the control of childhood eczema.

The new study, ‘Trial of food allergy (IgE) tests for Eczema Relief (TIGER)’, led by Professor Matthew Ridd from the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, will start recruiting participants in January 2023.

Parents commonly seek food allergy tests to find a cause for their child's eczema, yet the value of test-guided dietary advice is uncertain.

In 2021, the results from the TEST study were published. Funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, they showed that it was feasible to recruit and keep people in a study evaluating food allergy tests for eczema control.

Professor Ridd said: “We are delighted to announce that the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme has funded the TIGER study, which will enable us to answer the question, ‘Does dietary advice based on routine food allergy tests improve disease control compared with usual care in children with eczema?’

“We are currently setting the study up and we will add more information to this website over the next few months, before we welcome the first children into the study in February 2023.”

Meanwhile, you can:

• Learn more about the TEST or TIGER studies
• Follow @eczema_allergy on Twitter
• Or email us at tiger-study@bristol.ac.uk