Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2008
Predicting the duration of symptoms in lower respiratory tract infection.
Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Information about the natural history of acute infections commonly seen in primary care: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Pelargonium sidoides extract for treating acute respiratory tract infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Effect of antibiotic prescribing strategies and an information leaflet on longer-term reconsultation for acute lower respiratory tract infection.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009Trial
- Economic Burden of Medically Attended Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections Among Privately Insured Children Under 5 Years of Age in the USA.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2024Article
- Post-consultation acute respiratory tract infection recovery: a latent class-informed analysis of individual patient data.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Illness perception and related behaviour in lower respiratory tract infections—a European study.Family practice · 2015Article
- Molecular Detection ofInternational journal of applied & basic medical researchArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAcute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) presenting in primary care has a long natural history. Antibiotic treatment makes little or no difference to the duration of cough. Limited information is currently available regarding predictors of illness duration.
aimTo determine predictors of illness duration in acute LRTI in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Secondary analysis of trial data to identify independent predictors of illness severity and duration.
settingPrimary care.
methodEight-hundred and seven patients aged 3 years and over with acute illness (21 days or less) presenting with cough as the main symptom plus at least one symptom or sign from sputum, chest pain, dyspnoea, or wheeze were recruited to the study. Main outcomes were duration of symptoms (rated at least a slight problem) and more severe symptoms (rated at least moderately bad).
resultsThe average duration of cough (rated at least a slight problem) was 11.7 days and was shorter among children (duration -1.72 days; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.02 to -0.41) or in individuals with a history of fever (-1.22 days; 95% CI = -0.18 to 2.27). The duration of cough was longer among those with restricted activities on the day they saw the doctor (+0.69 days for each point of a 7-point scale). The duration of more severe symptoms was longer in those with a longer duration of symptoms prior to consultation, with a more severe cough on the day of seeing the doctor, and restriction of activities on the day of seeing the doctor.
conclusionIllness duration may be predicted from a limited number of clinical symptoms and from prior history. These findings should be subjected to validation in a separate population. To minimise expectation about rapid resolution of illness, adults who have restricted activities could be advised that they are likely to experience symptoms for longer.
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Registered trials
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