ArticleBMC family practice2011
A pilot study of the use of near-patient C-Reactive Protein testing in the treatment of adult respiratory tract infections in one Irish general practice.
Article in BMC family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biomarkers as point-of-care tests to guide prescription of antibiotics in people with acute respiratory infections in primary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Delayed antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections: individual patient data meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of point-of-care C reactive protein in ambulatory care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2019Pooled it
- Association between point-of-care CRP testing and antibiotic prescribing in respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis of primary care studies.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Pooled it
- Role of diagnostic testing in reducing unnecessary antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in Chinese primary healthcare: a mixed-methods study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Views of Spanish primary care professionals on respiratory tract infection testing: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- How, why and when are delayed (back-up) antibiotic prescriptions used in primary care? A realist review integrating concepts of uncertainty in healthcare.BMC public health · 2024Review
- Factors associated with C-reactive protein testing when prescribing antibiotics in general practice: a register-based study.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Point-of-Care C-Reactive Protein Testing to Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing for Respiratory Tract Infections in Primary Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Antibiotic use for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) in primary care; what factors affect prescribing and why is it important? A narrative review.Irish journal of medical science · 2018Review
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- Article
- Narrative review of primary care point-of-care testing (POCT) and antibacterial use in respiratory tract infection (RTI).BMJ open respiratory research · 2015Article
- The antibiotic prescription and redemption gap and opportunistic CRP point-of-care testing. A cross-sectional study in primary health care from Eastern Austria.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2013Article
- General practitioners' views on the acceptability and applicability of a web-based intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute cough in multiple European countries: a qualitative study prior to a randomised trial.BMC family practice · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNew approaches are being sought to safely reduce community antibiotic prescribing. A recent study demonstrated that CRP testing resulted in decreased antibiotic prescribing for lower respiratory tract infection in primary care. There is little other published primary care data available evaluating CRP in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections in routine clinical practice. This pilot study aims to describe the performance of near-patient CRP testing, in a mixed payments health system. Specific areas to be reviewed included the integrity of the study protocol, testing of data collection forma and acceptability of the intervention. PATIENTS: Patients over the age of 18 years, with acute cough and/or sore throat with a duration of one month or less, in routine clinical practice.
method
designA pilot with a cross-sectional design. The first 60 recruited patients were treated with routine clinical management, and GP's had no access to a CRP test. For the subsequent 60 patients, access to CRP testing was available.
participants3 GP's in one Irish primary care practice recruited 120 patients, fulfilling the above criteria over five months, from January 1 to May 31, 2010.
main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was antibiotic prescription at the index consultation. Secondary outcomes were the numbers of delayed prescriptions issued, patient satisfaction immediately after consultation and re-consultations and antibiotic prescriptions during 28 days follow-up.
resultsThe protocol and data collection forms worked well and the intervention of CRP testing appeared acceptable. Thirty-five (58%) patients in the no-test group received antibiotic prescriptions compared to 27 (45%) in the test group. Both groups demonstrated similarly high level of patient satisfaction (85%). Fourteen (23%) patients in the CRP test group re-attended within 28 days compared to 9 (15%) in the no-CRP test group.
conclusionThis pilot study confirms the potential feasibility of a full trial in Irish general practice. Further consideration of possible increased re-attendance rates in a mixed payments health system is appropriate. We intend to pursue a larger trial in a newly established regional primary care research network.
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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.