ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2001
Symptoms, signs, and prescribing for acute lower respiratory tract illness.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reduction of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory tract infections in primary care: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2018Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Factors Associated with Antibiotic Prescribing for Respiratory Tract Infections.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2016Pooled it
- Clinical symptoms and signs for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children and adolescents with community-acquired pneumonia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Diagnostic value of C reactive protein in infections of the lower respiratory tract: systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2005Pooled it
- Amoxicillin for acute lower respiratory tract infection in primary care: subgroup analysis of potential high-risk groups.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2014Trial
- Predicting the duration of symptoms in lower respiratory tract infection.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008Trial
- Reducing antibiotic use for acute bronchitis in primary care: blinded, randomised controlled trial of patient information leaflet.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2002Trial
- Point-of-care C-reactive protein testing and antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Patterns of antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections in under-three-year-old children in India: A cross-sectional study.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Relationship between microbiology of throat swab and clinical course among primary care patients with acute cough: a prospective cohort study.Family practice · 2020Article
- Risk assessment and antibiotic prescribing decisions in children presenting to UK primary care with cough: a vignette study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Illness perception and related behaviour in lower respiratory tract infections—a European study.Family practice · 2015Article
- Markers of lower respiratory tract infections in emergency departments.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2013Article
- Article
- Reducing uncertainty in managing respiratory tract infections in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2010Article
- Aetiology and prediction of pneumonia in lower respiratory tract infection in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2007Article
- Antibiotic prescribing for acute cough: the effect of perceived patient demand.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2006Article
- SAPC: scotching the myths.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2005Article
- The inter-observer agreement of examining pre-school children with acute cough: a nested study.BMC family practice · 2004Article
- A diagnostic rule for the aetiology of lower respiratory tract infections as guidance for antimicrobial treatment.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2004Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
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- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMost patients who consult with acute lower respiratory symptoms receive antibiotics, usually without evidence of significant infection. The physical signs at presentation of acute lower respiratory tract illness and the rate at which symptoms resolve and normal activities recover is not well documented.
aimTo examine in patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTi), their physical signs at presentation, their relationship to antibiotic prescribing, and symptom resolution and resumption of normal activities. DESIGN OF STUDY: Analysis of data collected prospectively during presentation of acute LRTi in primary care and from patient symptom diary cards.
settingForty GPs who were members of an informal Community Respiratory Infection Interest Group recruited 391 patients to the study.
methodInformation was collected on pulse, oral temperature, respiratory rate, abnormalities on auscultation, and details of any antibiotic prescription. Patients completed symptom diary cards for the following 10 days.
resultsOf the 391 patients who consulted 71% received antibiotics. A minority had abnormal physical signs: 17% had a pulse greater than 90 bpm, 15% a respiratory rate greater than 20 breaths per minute, 4% had a temperature greater than 38 degrees C, and 25% had an abnormality on auscultation. Antibiotic prescribing was more common in the presence of abnormal chest signs (odds ratio = 8.71, 95% confidence interval = 3.69-20.61) or discoloured sputum (OR = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.57-4.56). Ten days after consultation, 58% of patients were still coughing and 29% had not returned to normal activities.
conclusionAbnormal physical signs at presentation do not explain the high rates of antibiotic prescribing nor do they predict persisting cough and functional impairment at 10 days. Reconsultation for the same symptoms within a month is common and is strongly related to persisting cough, but not abnormalities at presentation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
11255897PMC1313947W2166894975What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.