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Ulrike Gehring,¹ Elizabeth Triche,² Robert T. van Strien,² Kathleen Belanger,² Theodore Holford,² Diane R. Gold,³ Thomas Jankun,² Ping Ren,² Jean-ellen McSharry,² William S. Beckett,⁴ Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills,⁵ Martin D. Chapman,⁵ Michael B. Bracken,² and Brian P. Leaderer²

¹GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Neuherberg, Germany; ²Center for Perinatal, Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; ³Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Pulmonary Division, Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; ⁴Pulmonary and Critical Care Division and Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA; ⁵Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Abstract
We assessed the accuracy of questionnaire reports of cat and dog ownership and presence of cockroaches in predicting measured allergen concentrations in house dust. We collected dust samples in the homes of 932 newborns living in New England. Dust samples were taken from the main living area and the infant's bedding. Allergen content of house dust was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and related to questionnaire information on past and current cat and dog ownership and presence of cockroaches. Allergen levels were dichotomized using the limit of detection and the following cut points: 1.0 µg/g and 8.0 µg/g for cat, 2.0 µg/g and 10.0 µg/g for dog, and 2 U/g and 8 U/g for cockroach allergen. For the upper cut point, both specificity and sensitivity of questionnaire-reported cat and dog ownership and presence of cockroaches were high. For the limit of detection and lower cut point, specificity was high (> 80%) , whereas sensitivity was low, particularly for current cat and dog ownership (21-60%) . Taking pet ownership during the preceding 2 years into account increased the sensitivity by 10%, but it remained relatively poor. In conclusion, questionnaire-reported pet ownership and presence of cockroaches predicts allergen levels above the upper cut point but is a relatively poor measure of allergen exposure above the limit of detection and the lower cut point. Knowledge of past pet ownership can improve pet allergen exposure assessment by means of questionnaire. However, for epidemiologic purposes, measured concentrations of allergens are necessary. Key words: allergens, cat, cockroach, dog, house dust. Environ Health Perspect 112:834-839 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6685 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 11 February 2004]

Address correspondence to B.P. Leaderer, Center for Perinatal, Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology, Yale University School of Medicine, One Church St., 6th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510 USA. Telephone: (203) 764-9375. Fax: (203) 764-9378. E-mail: brian.leaderer@yale.edu

We thank the 1,002 families in Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts who permitted us to conduct allergen dust sampling in their homes. We also thank the following hospitals from which our study population was selected: in Connecticut--Yale-New Haven, Danbury, Bridgeport, and Hartford ; in Massachusetts--Bay State Medical Center.

This study was funded by grants ES07456, ES05410, and ES11013 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

M.D. Chapman is an officer of INDOOR Biotechnologies Inc. (Charlottesville, VA) , a company that manufactures ELISA systems for indoor allergen analysis. The other authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 20 August 2003 ; accepted 11 February 2004.